John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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365. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide a breakdown by county of the number of applications received and approved under the free legal aid scheme in each of the past five years. [47973/14]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I wish to inform the Deputy that the provision of legal aid falls within two separate categories, i.e. civil legal aid and criminal legal aid. Details in respect of each category are outlined below.

Criminal Legal Aid

Under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962, the courts, through the judiciary, are responsible for the granting of legal aid. An applicant for legal aid must establish to the satisfaction of the court that his/her means are insufficient to enable him/her to pay for legal representation him/herself. The assignment of lawyers or the granting of aid are matters for the Court and, as such, are handled by the judiciary on the applicant's appearance in court. Unfortunately figures are not kept in such a way as to be able to provide a breakdown by county of the number of certificates granted for criminal legal aid.

Civil Legal Aid

In respect of civil legal aid, this is provided by the Legal Aid Board, an independent State agency. At the outset, it should be clarified that with the exception of a very small number of cases, civil legal aid is not free nor is the word ‘free’ part of the Board’s title. Clients pay a contribution for legal advice and a further contribution if they require representation in court. This is important as many applicants to the Board query why they are being asked to make a payment as they have heard reference to ‘free legal aid’ or the ‘Free Legal Aid Board’.

In relation to civil legal aid, the Legal Aid Board operates 30 general full-time law centres in twenty-three different counties. Attached below is the number of applicants in each of the last five years at the law centre(s) in each of the counties in which the Board has a full time presence. (The Board has six general law centres in Dublin and two general law centres in both Cork and Galway).Only applicants that have been financially assessed are placed on an applications record and financial eligibility is usually determined by law centre staff within 48 hours of receipt of the application. Therefore, the figures below represent financially eligible applications that fall within the scope of the Act.

Persons seeking legal services can apply at any law centre and are not required to apply within the county in which they reside. The Board also operates part-time law centres in the counties where it does not have a full-time presence. Each of these centres is operated by a full-time centre and the numbers getting services at these centres are included in the applications figure for the full-time centre. One other point to note is that the Board operates a part-time centre in Drogheda which is operated by its law centre in Monaghan (rather than its law centre in Dundalk). Thus the figures are not reflective of the addresses by county of the applicants. This particular information is not readily available.