Ms Rose Wall:

From the State's point of view, and from the point of view of how to incentivise the State to create a more strategic model, there is a lot to be said for looking at the public education function. If people are aware of the law and their rights at an early stage, and engage with the legal services at an earlier stage, an issue can often be resolved at an early stage. Whether it is through a simple letter or a simple phone call, the issue can be resolved before it becomes entrenched, more difficult and there is a need to go to court. From an effectiveness and cost saving point of view, there is certainly an argument to be made.

Similarly, from a law reform point of view - and this is why we would advocate that the civil legal aid scheme should have a law reform function - if they are dealing with the same issue and pouring resources into the same issue time and again, rather than dealing with the root cause of the problem, there is certainly the cost saving exercise to be done. As Professor Whyte highlighted on the issue of social return on investment, if we invest properly in these services, there is a social return because we are preventing homelessness, job losses and so on.