Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 497: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which the various legal aid offices in Dublin have found it possible to discharge the number of cases referred to them; the number of cases pending; the number concluded; the average length of time taken to conclude a case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18806/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I can inform the Deputy that the table below provides the number of applications awaiting a first appointment as of the 1 June 2011 and the number of applications received in each of the Dublin law centres in the 12 month period to the 1 June 2011. It is not possible to give a 'point in time' figure for the number of cases concluded. However, the Legal Aid Board includes information in relation to the number of cases concluded in a calendar year in its Annual Reports.

The Deputy might also wish to note that in 2010, 2,195 persons applied for legal services for a District Court family law remedy to the Board's office in Dolphin House. All of these persons were granted legal aid, the vast majority of them by way of the Board's private practitioner service. In the first five months of this year 1,285 persons were granted legal aid in similar circumstances. It is difficult to give an average length of time to conclude a case. The duration of cases differs depending on a number of factors including, inter alia, the nature of the case, the willingness of the parties to negotiate and whether court proceedings are involved.