Ms Caroline Counihan:

I will come back to the Deputy on the legal aspects. I wish to pick up on a couple of points he made. Women suffering domestic violence continue to experience shortages of skilled family lawyers in the District Court in particular. The Legal Aid Board is making strenuous efforts in this regard. I am glad to report that things have improved in a few areas.

As a result of the fact that I am in regular contact with services all around the country, I am aware there are some black spots. Unfortunately, Athlone is one of them. I would also like to acknowledge that strenuous efforts are being made on the Government side with the family justice strategy. It is something that will be tackled.

When it comes to increasing the number of family lawyers, many things need to happen. First, the court system, including family courts, needs to be improved. As we know, the civil legal aid review is going on. The legislation needs to be amended to improve the reach of legal aid for women experiencing domestic violence. It is not enough that it is confined to family law; legal aid is needed in other vital areas. Representation is needed for rent tribunals, to give one example. There are systemic issues and problems with the low level of pay that private practitioners are able to access as payment from the Legal Aid Board, which has no power to pay higher amounts.

As I said, there are problems with the system. As we know, what is happening in the family law courts, especially in the District Court, is that the system is very overburdened. Therefore, cases take a long time to be determined because on any particular family law day outside Dublin - as we know, Dublin has a dedicated court - it can take ages for a matter to be resolved. People have to keep coming back and matters are adjourned repeatedly at huge cost emotionally to the participants, in particular women who may be in a very difficult family law situation, but also the children involved. It is not an equivalent pain, but it is also very difficult for people working in the system. Judges are very overloaded.

We need more judges. We need fixed appointments and expertise within the courts. Our cohort of family solicitors has to be properly trained, remunerated and supported. All of these things are possible, and all of them must accompany the overhaul of the system and transformation that will come with the Family Courts Bill.