Professor Gerard Whyte:

The Legal Aid Board statutory scheme is still a service model, as was its predecessor, the extra-statutory scheme. However, there was a significant increase in resourcing in anticipation of the divorce referendum in 1995 or 1996. Until that time, the board had operated through 12 law centres, four of which were in Dublin with the other eight distributed around the country. Now, there are approximately 30 law centres. Under the statutory scheme, there has been a greater involvement of private practitioners. As far as I recall, there was no involvement of private practitioners under its predecessor. Essentially, there were 30 or so solicitors trying to provide legal aid for the entire country. That has changed. There are now more Legal Aid Board solicitors. For limited types of case, the board can get private practitioners involved in providing legal services.

That said, it remains the case that the board is significantly under-resourced. A number of us have mentioned the board's difficulties in recruiting staff. That is a serious problem and is manifesting in delays in getting an initial appointment in some centres. I should clarify that the Legal Aid Board has a system of prioritising cases that are not subject to those delays. If one is not a priority case, though, one can be waiting many months to get an initial consultation with a board solicitor. That speaks to me of under-resourcing.