Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Broughan for raising this matter. The Northside Community Law Centre is an independent, community-based legal centre. Its mission is to protect the rights of individuals and groups from within the Dublin North-Central and Dublin North-East areas. It does this by providing free information, advice and legal representation services to individuals and groups in its community who may otherwise not be able to get legal services. The centre also works to support its local community through education, research and campaigns.

Operating since 1975, the NCLC was the first community law centre in the State. It is not part of the State civil legal aid scheme. The centre is currently located in the Northside civic centre, Bunratty Road, Coolock, Dublin 17. The centre is a company limited by guarantee and is a registered charity. It is governed by a voluntary board of directors elected from the membership of the centre. It employs a number of full time solicitors and support staff.

Since its establishment the Northside Community Law Centre has, at various times, been funded by a number of separate agencies, including the Department of Justice and Law Reform, the Eastern Health Board and the Combat Poverty Agency.

In 1995, the Department of Social Protection, as it is now, assumed responsibility for funding the centre at a time when its future was in jeopardy. Funding is provided to the centre under the scheme of grants for the development and promotion of information and welfare rights. Applications for grants are made by way of completing and submitting an application form annually. The Department has invested significant funding to the Northside Community Law Centre over the years in support of the services it provides within the Dublin North-Central and Dublin North-East areas. To date in 2010, funding of some €386,000 has been approved to the centre.

In considering previous applications for funding, the Department of Social Protection advised the centre to secure funding from more appropriate revenue sources in the public and private sectors. While acknowledging that progress has been made by the centre in developing additional revenue streams through its own work in recent years, the Department remains the primary funder.

In 2009, the centre raised additional funding of some €135,000 from sources such as the Law Society of Ireland, Dublin City Council and fees generated from community education and mediation-related courses. With regard to continued funding by the Department of Social Protection, applications for funding in 2011 will be considered early next year, giving due consideration to the financial resources available to the Department at that time. Officials from the Department of Social Protection will meet the Northside Community Law Centre to discuss this further at that time. In this regard the Department will contact the organisation shortly.

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