Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

The proposed amendment to section 29 has been the subject of discussion in this House and in the Dáil, as well as correspondence between FLAC and the Department. The Department has clarified for FLAC that the motivation behind this amendment is simply to put beyond doubt concerns which the board had regarding its power to waive or reduce the contribution payable by one of its clients in circumstances where it has been assessed at a level above the minimum. At present the board's conclusion is that it does not have this authority. Once this amendment is passed, it will unambiguously have this authority.

Concern was raised in this House regarding the application of a "severe hardship standard" as the criterion governing whether a contribution could be reduced or waived. The choice of language in the original amendment was informed by the existing language in the legal aid regulations, but this amendment proposes to replace that term with the word "undue" — in other words, the word "undue" replacing the word "severe". This latter expression, "undue", is more widely found in legislation generally and does not have the extreme connotations which might have been read by some into the term, "severe". It also better reflects the reality of how the board would operate such a standard. The intention is not to set the standard unreasonably high, while still providing that it would not simply apply in all cases, since it might be said that any request for a contribution would involve some hardship to a person on a modest income in so far as it would reduce his or her immediate disposable income.