Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The situation in respect of civil legal aid has now reached an absolute crisis point. People deemed eligible for civil legal aid have a waiting time for a full appointment with a solicitor of between six and 18 months. In my experience of people attending my constituency office, many women experiencing domestic violence are those seeking legal aid. For a person charged under criminal legislation, all he or she has to prove to receive legal aid is that they qualify financially. However, for many women and children suffering physical and emotional abuse, they do not get this Rolls Royce treatment.

Both civil and criminal legal aid are provided by the State. This should be with a level of equality and fairness across the board. The High Court determined several years ago that people should not wait longer than three months. Unfortunately, this is now got around by the Legal Aid Board, itself under workload pressure, by offering what is known as a triage appointment. This is a preliminary meeting best described as an introductory meeting. It does not assist the applicant for legal aid in any way. It is merely a lip-service appointment. The delays in terms of getting legal representation will still be the same at between six and 18 months. Some women seeking legal aid are dismissed by being told to just get a barring order. Not everybody is in a position to bring an application for a barring order. The reasons for this differ from social or family pressures, as well as not actually being able to face having their spouse barred and issues around children being aware of what is going on. The only option for people living in the misery of marriage break-up who cannot afford to deal with matters privately is to seek representation from the legal aid board.

To put the delays in context, a person may wait for up to 18 months just for a first appointment. If, following on from that, a legal process has to be started, that will take a further year to 18 months. During that time, women are in many cases condemned to live under the one roof while domestic violence is ongoing. It can be very frustrating and even a dangerous time as relationships continue to deteriorate. In many cases, women are seeking legal aid as they are in an abusive and violent relationship.

The delays in the District Court in Dolphin House are particularly bad. I welcome, however, the Minister’s recent announcement about the construction of a new family court. Former Supreme Court Justice, Catherine McGuinness, said:

Most District Court judges have a very long list and very little time to listen. Not listening is a symptom of this lack of resources.

The delay from application to the hearing of the case is approximately 16 weeks. The courts are listing between 18 and 22 matters per court per day.

We cannot continue to have women forced to return to violent or abusive relationships due to the lack of options and supports because of the lack of civil legal aid.

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