Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Having heard the number of announcements the Minister has made over the past year without any changes happening, it concerns me when he has not even made an announcement in respect of this. That says to me that there is not an appreciation yet of the urgency here. There is a real crisis right now in accessing civil legal aid. That means there is a crisis in access to justice. The income limits, incredibly, have not changed since 2006. We are told by everybody involved that the fee structure means we do not have enough private lawyers carrying out legal aid work. That is creating problems in some parts of the country where there are basically no supports available, particularly for vulnerable people, including victims of domestic violence, who just cannot get the representation they need.

I am told by those who work in the area that the civil legal aid services are virtually on the brink of collapse, unless something is done urgently. I hear what the Minister is saying in terms of asking his officials to do this and wanting to do that. Will he give us a timeframe and clarity as to when we will see action in this area?

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