Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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72. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the cost of not requiring a financial contribution from victims and survivors of domestic violence seeking legal aid. [18410/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, applicants for civil legal aid and advice are required to meet the financial eligibility criteria under section 29 of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2016. Section 29 (2) (b) of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 (as amended by Section 80 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008) provides that the Legal Aid Board may waive any contribution payable or accept a lower contribution if failure to do so would cause undue hardship to the applicant. The Board has put in place guidelines for its decision makers which provide for a sympathetic approach to be taken to applications for a waiver in cases where the application is in connection with a domestic violence matter and the person’s sole source of income is social welfare. In such circumstances a decision maker may decide to waive the aid contribution so that the person will only pay the advice contribution of €30.

The Board periodically brings proposals to my Department in relation to the financial eligibility and other criteria in relation to civil legal aid and I understand that it is considering bringing a proposal to me regarding this issue in the near future. The following is an estimate of the cost of waiving contributions based on the actual costs incurred in 2016. It is emphasised that these figures relate to both applicants and respondents in such proceedings.