The situation has deteriorated since January with the loss of one solicitor and, as a result, the loss of a member of support staff. As notified to me via one of my Dáil colleagues last week by way of a written parliamentary question, the current position is that there are two solicitors and two support staff in the legal aid office in Nenagh and the waiting time for an appointment has now gone from nine to 11 months. This is an unacceptable and intolerable position. It is certainly intolerable for the staff involved, who I would imagine – without having discussed it with them – are being put under extraordinary stress, and for the people on the waiting list.

Only recently I received a woman into my clinic. I want to give this as an example – the Minister will be aware of the kind of case to which I refer. This situation could be replicated right across the country but I cite it as an example of the kind of difficulties faced when a person is relying on the legal aid service to sort out his or her affairs.

This woman's marriage has unfortunately broken up, due to psychiatric illness in the family, leaving her responsible for the mortgage. Because of a legal situation arising from the fact that her name is on the title deeds of a house, for which she now cannot afford to pay, the local authority is essentially saying that she is not qualified to apply for housing. We are dealing with that at another level. In fact, what she needs is legal separation. She wants to get a legal separation but she cannot afford a solicitor because of her position.

With two small children, this woman is unable to work. She herself is under severe stress and when I spoke to her last week she told me she had been waiting six months for an appointment with the Legal Aid Board. I advised her to go to another legal aid office because the waiting time in Limerick, for instance, is four months. I said to her that this was a really urgent matter and suggested that perhaps she needed to put herself on the waiting list for the Limerick service too.

This is the kind of situation with which we are faced. The local authority is telling me that it is in an impossible position. If a person's name is on the title deeds of a house and the person has not negotiated or finalised a legal separation, the local authority is in a very difficult position in dealing with the person's application for housing.

This woman is in very difficult circumstances. This is only one example of the kinds of problems people face. The Minister of State will be aware that at this stage family law cases have become the largest element of the work of the legal aid service.

I ask the Minister of State to explain why staffing in the Tipperary office has been allowed to fall to two solicitors and two support staff. I hope a commitment will be forthcoming that this problem will be rectified as soon as possible. I want to know why this is happening. Is it because of a cut in funds to the Legal Aid Board? If so, could the Minister of State please explain why this is happening and the justification for it? If there is such a cut, who made this decision, why was it made and are the implications being fully examined? It would appear to me that cuts such as this are hitting the most vulnerable in the community, the very people who cannot afford to go privately to a solicitor, who are dependent on the free legal aid service and who, as a result, are often left waiting often in legal limbo.

I should of course emphasise that the waiting time is for an appointment, not for a court hearing which, hopefully, is consequent on an appointment. Therefore it masks, in many ways, the full reality of this intolerable situation.

The Minister understands that, some time ago, as part of its remit and in order to address a number of staffing issues such as maternity leave, sick leave, etc., the board made a temporary increase in the staffing complement at Nenagh law centre on a contract basis. This temporary increase was to cover the staffing situation as it existed at the time and, following the return of the permanent staff members, the position has reverted to normal levels on completion of the contract.

The Minister has asked me to inform the Senator that, in order to improve the waiting list situation at Nenagh law centre, the board has taken the step of providing support to the law centre from its head office and will continue to do so in the coming months. The board anticipates that this measure will lead to a reduction in the waiting list at the Nenagh law centre shortly. The board has also decided to review the arrangements for the provision of legal services in the part-time law centres in Clonmel and Thurles.

In relation to applicants waiting for legal services, the Minister has asked me to point out to the House that the Legal Aid Board operates a procedure whereby priority is accorded to certain categories of cases, for example domestic violence, child care, child abduction and cases in which there are time limits. I understand that in these cases the application is dealt with immediately and the person concerned is not placed on a waiting list. That would probably not extend to the case to which the Senator is referring, although I have found from personal experience that local authorities are usually fairly co-operative in holding positions.

The Legal Aid Board has informed the Minister that it continually keeps the arrangements for delivery of legal services under review to ensure that it provides services to the greatest number of persons possible and that this includes the law centres in Tipperary. The information I have is different from the Senator's. She said the current staffing was two solicitors plus two support staff, whereas I said it was two solicitors plus three support staff. There is a slight difference in the information, even allowing for the extra contract person, presumably a solicitor, who was covering sick or maternity leave.