Seanad debates

Monday, 31 May 2021

Civil Legal Aid (Exclusion of Value of Free or Partly Free Board) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage

 

10:30 am

Photo of Fintan WarfieldFintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I commend Senator Lynn Boylan on bringing forward this important Bill. She has been a constant champion for social justice and equality, whether through her lifelong activism, her contribution on behalf of Dubliners in the European Parliament - where she led the negotiations in respect of the right to water report - relentlessly campaigning to end the incarceration of Ibrahim Halawa in the Egypt, persistently challenging the Irish Government on the lack of media diversity in this country or her work on social change and for the Stardust families and victims who lost their lives in that tragedy in 1981.

The purpose of the Bill is to remove the discriminatory policy of treating the housing assistance payment, HAP, as income in the context of applications for civil legal aid. Survivors of domestic abuse should have fair access to civil legal aid. This is a deeply unfair provision. HAP is paid directly to landlords. As matters stand, however, it is considered to be part of a person's income when he or she is assessed for civil legal aid eligibility. This denies survivors of domestic abuse and other low income households access to the courts. This is wrong and dangerous, and should be stopped. It creates a shocking situation whereby survivors of domestic abuse may have to represent themselves in court when hearings may concern child custody or child maintenance.

The way in which civil legal aid is calculated unfairly penalises HAP recipients. HAP is paid directly to landlords and is not income. However, the legal aid board is interpreting HAP as benefit-in-kind and that it is partially free board. The value of the benefit-in-kind is the HAP payment. This can tip victims of domestic abuse over the already very low income threshold of €18,000. This means that people on low incomes are left to defend themselves in court in cases relating to maintenance, child access, separation and divorce. It is unfair to expect an untrained person to represent himself or herself in the courts and is a contravention of the Airey v. Ireland ruling. It effectively denies such persons access to the courts. Senator Boylan's Bill addresses this anomaly by excluding the reference to partially free board so that HAP payments will not be included in the means test for civil legal aid. I welcome the Government U-turn on the issue. Let us be clear, survivors need certainty and what Sinn Féin proposes to do is pursue this Bill to ensure that the Minister is not the sole person who has the discretion to count or not count HAP as income in this scenario.

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