Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)

To tease that out a little further, does the Minister agree that a different threshold or abolishing the threshold entirely would be appropriate in cases where domestic violence is a factor or in family law cases like that for precisely the reason he outlined? Can the Minister provide any sort of timeframe for when this consideration is likely to be complete? I underline the point that it is not simply about the thresholds; it is also about the amount of resources and the availability of lawyers. Otherwise, people will be able to qualify, but if no lawyers are available and they end up on waiting lists forever, then it will not be worth a whole lot. The figures are quite striking. Figures from February 2025 show a waiting time of up to 46 weeks for a first consultation in Sligo, 37 in Longford, 34 in Tallaght, 31 in Kilkenny and 30 in Cavan, so this issue also needs to be addressed.

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