Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will detail the supports her Department gives to Free Legal Advice Centres; if her Department has received its 2021 annual report; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35898/22]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister detail the supports her Department gives to Free Legal Advice Centres? Will she confirm if her Department has received the 2021 annual report, and will she make a statement on the matter?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I fully support the work of Free Legal Advice Centres, FLAC, and have met with members of the team. I compliment them on the work they do and, in particular, on the work they continued to do through Covid-19. It has been a difficult period for a number of organisations, particularly those that deal with the public. FLAC plays a key role in the provision of legal information, advice and advocacy work through its telephone information referral line, for which my Department has provided grant funding over a number of years.

The Department has received FLAC's annual report. I highlight that, according to the report, last year, the highest number of calls were made to the referral line since 2015, with more than 13,000 calls being made. Obviously, that may have been as a result of the Covid pandemic, as people were not meeting face-to-face and were communicating more online and over the phone. Nevertheless, there was quite a significant increase in the number of calls made to the referral line. We must respond to that.

More generally, given the increase in calls in recent years and in response to representations directly from FLAC to my Department that the cost of providing this service has increased, in budget 2021 I trebled the funding allocated to FLAC from €98,000 to €294,000. That enabled us to support the invaluable work it does and the services it provides to the most vulnerable by strengthening its telephone information and referral line and increasing the numbers of legal advice clinics it provides throughout the country. In budget 2022, I maintained the increased funding allocation to FLAC. We will be responding to and engaging with the organisation and other stakeholders to look at what is possible for this year for the next budget in September. More broadly, FLAC regularly engages with my Department on access to justice matters. In its recent annual report, FLAC called for and welcomed the review of the civil legal aid scheme that I announced and is under way.

This is the first time in its more than 40-year history that we have had a review of this kind. I am pleased to say that the work of the group has commenced. It is being chaired by retired Chief Justice Frank Clarke, with membership drawn from across different sectors. We are trying to make sure that we do not just have legal expertise but that we also have representatives from the various different organisations and representative community groups, including marginalised groups; legal practitioners; academics; Department officials; and representatives from the Legal Aid Board, which administers the current scheme. FLAC is an important member of the review group. Insights from working to promote equal access to justice for all will be invaluable to the group as its work progresses.

The review will allow for an assessment of how well access to justice is facilitated by our civil legal aid scheme, particularly for those on low incomes. The review group will make recommendations for its future, including in relation to eligibility. As part of the review process, I intend that there will be significant consultation to ensure that the insights of a range of stakeholders regarding the operation of the scheme - and how best to support those of limited means with legal needs – will inform the work of the review group.

As I noted, the review group has commenced its work, which is expected to take a period of 12 months. It will report to me periodically on progress, before submitting its final report to me once its work is completed. FLAC’s annual report highlighted that in 2021 almost a third of all queries to its telephone information and referral line related to family law matters. I am determined to overhaul the operation of the family justice system to ensure we have a more efficient and user-friendly family court system that puts the family at the centre of its work. Work on drafting the family court Bill is progressing with a view to publishing the Bill as soon as possible in 2022.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I am sure the Minister is aware that an awful lot of the FLAC centres around the country have more or less exclusively been dealing with family law cases. I note the figure of 13,000 calls that the Minister mentioned, which is a small but significant increase. I do not know whether the Minister noticed the following matter but I certainly did and I am sure the Acting Chairman did. There has been a massive increase in the number of people seeking advice since the ban on evictions ended. There have been many notices to quit, which involve landlord and tenant law and employment law. There are much fewer people, percentage wise, who are in trade unions. They are not getting any representation, a lot of them cannot afford the services of a specialised lawyer and they are coming to our offices. Does the Minister have any plans to resource FLAC so it can move into advocacy on behalf of workers and tenants who are receiving notices to quit? Most people know that most of those notices to quit are not genuine when they detail that properties are being sold or are for family members and so on. There needs to be a way that can be challenged by tenants and they are not able to do so.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The overall increase from 98,000 to 294,000 was to support the huge amount of work it already does. There are 30 full-time law centres, part-time centres, four specialist legal offices and 20 family mediation centres. Of the law centres, eight of these with a family mediation offices are collocated. It is not just the online services but a huge amount is happening in-person on the ground. The Deputy referenced family law and about 30% of the calls related to same. To break it down further, of that 30% some 44% related to divorce, a number that has unfortunately increased in the previous year. Some 29% of the calls were concerning custody, access and guardianship, which again represents a rise of almost 18%. Some 17% of the calls related to maintenance, which is a rise of just under 10%. Finally, 12% of the calls were domestic violence queries so this is connected with the work we are doing in the development of the family law court, the family hubs and the family justice oversight group, acknowledging that this is an area we need to specialise more in. We need to create specialised judges and have separate channels for families to go to in the courts. We have such a significant increase in cases presenting before the courts so we must ensure we can respond to them as well as continuing to provide support for FLAC, which provides that initial support for many families.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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On the point of expanding the services, does the Minister have a specified plan for separate family law courtrooms and courts around the country in the larger towns? If so, which towns is she talking about? I know that FLAC and the other organisations wrote to the Minister in July of last year about its demand for its services and the massive legal demand that is out there. The fact that the review is taking place is welcome and I commend the Minister on doing that but when will the report be completed? Does the Minister accept, given that the demand was made of her this time last year, that it is unacceptable for the review to possibly go into 2023?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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What I always try to do and what any Department will try to do is respond to the asks, wishes and needs of the organisation it supports. The Department of Justice has tried, in many different ways, including financially, to support the expansion of FLAC. Any request coming into the budgetary process this year will be examined and hopefully responded to in a positive way. On the family courts, we are talking about hubs, which are structures within the current court structures. No final decision has been made on exactly where they would be but the most important thing is that there would be similar access, irrespective of where you are in the country, to those family courts. We must acknowledge that we might not be able to have one in every county but we want to make sure people have access to them in a quick and timely manner. If you look at what happened throughout Covid-19 we have tried to prioritise family law and domestic violence cases, even where the courts were closed or minimally open. Even in doing that, the number of cases that are still to be seen and the work that is required means there is an urgency in this and I am treating this in the way it should be treated.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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Will additional courtrooms be built around the country?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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We have to look at where we are identifying locations and need and we can respond once we have that done.