Written answers
Thursday, 25 January 2024
Department of Justice and Equality
Legal Aid
Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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297. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the current waiting times for mediation in the law centres run by the Legal Aid Board; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [3565/24]
Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Legal Aid Board is the statutory, independent body responsible for the provision of civil legal aid and advice to persons of modest means in the State, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2017. The Act was amended by Section 54 of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011, which gave the Board the additional responsibility to provide a family mediation service.
Section 3(3) of the Act provides that the Board shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be independent in the exercise of its functions.
However, to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made with the Legal Aid Board, and I am informed that, civil legal aid and advice is provided primarily through a network of law centres by solicitors employed by the Board. The Board operates a total of 34 full-time law centres and dedicated units along with three part-time centres, and three specialist legal offices. The Board also operates 19 family mediation centres. Eight of the law centres and family mediation offices are co-located.
The Legal Aid Board has established a number of co-located centres in Portlaoise, Kilkenny, Jervis House in Dublin, Dundalk, Letterkenny, Limerick, Tallaght and Sligo. These centres operate a full-time law centre and either a full or part-time mediation centre. Court-based family mediation services are available in a number of courts around the country, including Dolphin House in Dublin, Ennis, Carlow and Mullingar.
Information on the length of time applicants are waiting in weeks is maintained by the Legal Aid Board on an office by office basis . The waiting times for family mediation services as of 31 December 2023, are set out in the table below provided by the Board. As of 31 December 2023, the average national waiting time for mediation was 16 weeks.
Table: Waiting times for family mediation, 31 December 2023 (in weeks)
| Location | Waiting time in weeks |
|---|---|
| Location | Waiting time in weeks |
| Athlone | 13 |
| Blanchardstown | 17 |
| Carlow* | 34 |
| Castlebar | 16 |
| Cork | 13 |
| Dolphin House* | 3 |
| Dundalk** | 26 |
| Ennis* | 5 |
| Galway | 18 |
| Jervis St** | 15 |
| Kilkenny** | 20 |
| Letterkenny** | 14 |
| Limerick** | 15 |
| Mullingar* | 0 |
| Nenagh | 17 |
| Portlaoise** | 7 |
| Sligo | 31 |
| Tallaght ** | 20 |
| Tralee | 13 |
| Waterford | 15 |
| Wexford | 16 |
| National average | 16 |
*Court based
** Co-located law and mediation centre
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