Ms Caroline Counihan:

In response to the suggestion that it should be the victim who would be given the choice of which solicitor he or she would like to instruct, my perspective is that in an ideal world that sounds absolutely fantastic, provided there is a pool of suitably qualified and experienced people readily available. That would be great. From listening to people who work with survivors of domestic violence in services across the country, I am very much aware that a lot of people, having qualified for legal aid, are given a list of private practitioners who they must then go through and contact and see if those people have the capacity to represent them in a family law matter. That can be very onerous and very stressful for people in practice because there are not that many people available. My dream is the creation of a cohort of specially trained domestic violence solicitors and barristers, and I would have the temerity to say also trained in sexual violence, who would have a particular interest in the area, have some experience of it and would be available to provide legal advice, and for that to be paid for by the legal aid board. I am aware that there is a proposal for a pilot of something like that to be funded for a brief period just to see how it works. For me, the nirvana is the creation of a specialist cohort who would have that experience and that interest and would be available. Then I think it would be fine for people to be given a list of practitioners to go to. That would be fine.