Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 129: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the reason for delays to civil legal aid at a law centre (details supplied); and the measures that have been taken to reduce waiting times; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23527/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The Legal Aid Board is a statutory, independent body in accordance with the Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995. The matters raised by the Deputy are a matter for the Board. However, in order to be helpful to the Deputy I have had enquiries made with the Board.

I wish to inform the Deputy that I acknowledge that waiting times for the law centre in question as well as other law centres have increased since the downturn in the economy and that there has been a very significant increase in demand for the Board's services. The Board's grant-in-aid for 2012 in respect of general civil matters, which accounts for the vast majority of its funding, has effectively been maintained at its 2011 level and every effort is being made to use resources as efficiently as possible in light of increased demand for its services. I have also now incorporated the grant for asylum services into the grant-in-aid which should give the Board greater flexibility in using its resources. A number of other measures have also either already been put in place or are in the process of being put in place and I believe that these will have a positive impact for persons seeking services from the Board. Specific details are as follows:

· The Board has outsourced to private solicitors significantly more work in recent years than it did a number of years ago. There is of course a budgetary constraint on what can be referred and it is not possible to accommodate all of the additional demand through private referral;

· As of 1 November 2011 the Board assumed responsibility for the Family Mediation Service (following the enactment of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011). The Board is currently reviewing the operation of the State funded mediation service with a view to achieving synergies with its legal services and better options in terms of resolving family disputes;

· The arrangements on foot of which barristers are retained have been in place since 1998 and are currently under review. There will be a level of restructuring of the current arrangements;

· The Board is working with individual law centres with a view to trying to deliver greater efficiencies in a number of its centres. It is assisted in this regard by the preparation of a Value for Money Review Report prepared by my Department and the Department of Finance (now the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform); and

· The Board has commenced a pilot 'triage' service. The objective of the pilot service is to ensure that every applicant for services sees a solicitor within a period of one month for the purpose of obtaining early legal advice. While it is acknowledged that those seeking further services will experience a waiting period, it is anticipated that an early consultation will benefit the client in terms of signposting actions clients can take themselves as well as signposting other support services. The pilot service has commenced in five of the Board's law centres – Sligo, Nenagh, Cavan, Wicklow and Athlone. It is anticipated that the pilot service will commence in the remaining centres shortly.