Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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I will speak about free legal aid, which is something very close to my own heart. There is no such thing as free legal aid, and that should be clarified and addressed. The cost of legal aid for family law matters of domestic violence, guardian access and maintenance is a minimum of €130. There is no free legal aid for family law matters aside from child care and child abduction.

Legal aid for such matters must be applied for and can take a number of weeks to be processed, as opposed to with criminal law, where an accused person can request service, have it granted and be appointed with a free legal aid solicitor there and then. The cost of legal aid in family law started at €30 before increasing to €50. In September 2013, it was again increased to €130. This is a significant increase and it was done without consultation with organisations or consideration of people's ability to pay. The cost of legal aid is prohibitive for women seeking protection in domestic violence cases, and that is crucial.

The Minister for Justice and Equality has been implementing changes in Acts dealing with domestic violence that are to be commended and welcomed.If the women these changes are supposed to help cannot afford to access legal representation then these changes are rendered useless and will make little or no change to the serious issue of domestic violence in this country. Where an interim barring order has been granted against an ex-partner a hearing for a barring order must be heard within eight days. This timeframe does not allow the woman to apply for legal aid, have her application processed, pay her fee by postal order, get her pink certificates sent to her and find a solicitor. This means the women often has to represent herself in court at a barring order hearing. That is unacceptable because she is going up against someone who could have abused her, her children are there and she cannot afford the €130. Legal aid costs can be paid in instalments but this can result in a woman having to make an extra payment of up to €20. The cost of getting postal orders, stamps etc. amounts to ten weekly payments of €13. The nearest offices to Carlow are Kilkenny and Portlaoise. The legal aid boards cannot issue the pink certificates required by solicitors to represent a client until the full payment has been made. Some solicitors will see clients for an initial consultation but without these pink certificates they cannot be represented in court. The woman can request a waiver or a reduction but this involves getting a statement of means from a client and providing a letter of support and the process is too long. I am sure the Minister of State has seen the form required to get free legal aid, one of which I have to hand. Applying for legal aid is almost like applying for a mortgage or for local authority housing. It is unfair for the most vulnerable women in our society. There is a perception that there is free legal aid. There is no such thing as free legal aid. Even if a woman applies for the reduction and the waiver, which she rarely gets, it is so long in coming that the person has to either go back home or cannot afford to get it. She has to go back to the environment she wants to leave. This is crucial.

The most vulnerable people in our society are children and women. Will the Minister of State ensure there is free legal aid? I have recently dealt with many of these cases. In Carlow we offer free women's aid and on Friday mornings we give out food parcels from supermarkets to these women. This is an emergency. Women are entitled to free legal aid. When they go for it they are told there is a waiting list and they could be waiting for weeks. That is too long.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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On behalf of the Tánaiste I would like to thank the Senator for raising this very important matter. The provision of civil legal aid is a long-established practice in Ireland with the original scheme for the provision of civil legal aid having been established in December 1979. It is a prerequisite to getting legal services from the Legal Aid Board that a person meets the financial eligibility criteria. If people do meet those criteria, the contribution they pay is based on their income and potentially also on their capital. The contributions regime has always been premised on the basis that a person pays a one-off contribution for legal advice and a further single contribution for legal aid, representation in court. The contribution for legal advice is set at a minimum of €30 and a maximum of €150. This could cover a single consultation if that is all that the client requires or it could cover the negotiation and completion of a separation agreement over many months. The legal aid contribution can rise to a maximum of €1,755 based on a person’s income and can be significantly higher if the person has assets other than the family home. However, it should be noted that there are some caps on the contributions that are payable. For most family law cases in the District Court, the contribution will be limited to a sum of €417. It is also important to note that there are, of course, provisions in place which allow a waiver of the contribution in the event that it would cause undue financial hardship, with clear guidelines provided for the interpretation of financial hardship. I will bring the points the Senator raised to the senior Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald. Those include a provision that regard should be had to the immediacy of the requirement for legal aid and to the nature of the case to which the application relates. For example, if the applicant is seeking a legal aid certificate for the purpose of taking a case on foot of the domestic violence legislation, the guidelines state a sympathetic approach should be taken to an application for a waiver or a reduction in the contribution, particularly if the applicant’s sole income is social welfare. The Senator's point about vulnerable women will have to be forcefully made to the Tánaiste.

These are the general arrangements in place. There are also categories of cases where the provision of legal services is free and there are other categories where specific arrangements apply. For example, persons who have been served with proceedings by Tusla will need to meet the financial eligibility criteria but are not required to pay a contribution.

Services under the new Abhaile scheme are provided free of charge to eligible persons and asylum seekers are charged a €10 contribution for services in relation to international protection matters. The Tánaiste is aware that the Legal Aid Board is keen to ensure that nobody is deprived of appropriate legal representation in court proceedings. The board keeps the contributions regime under active review and I anticipate that the new board, which the Tánaiste will appoint shortly, will also take an active interest in making sure that the contributions regime is appropriate and fair. The Tánaiste also knows that the board is working to ensure that a consistent message about its guidelines on waiving or reducing contributions is given to persons who may have difficulty paying a contribution. It has recently launched a new website with a view to making more information available online. Senators will be aware that the Legal Aid Board is also responsible for the provision of the State’s family mediation services. As recently as Monday, the Tánaiste officially opened its first co-located law centre and family mediation office. The family mediation services it provides are free and the Tánaiste very much hopes that more people will seek to use mediation to address family problems though she of course realises that mediation is not the solution in every case. While paying a legal aid contribution can be a difficulty, it is important to note that they are one-off payments that most people are unlikely to experience more than once or twice in their lives and as I have indicated, the waiver applies in the most sensitive cases. I will bring the issues the Senator raises today in these important matters to the Tánaiste.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. It is good that the Tánaiste is considering mediation because that is appropriate. It is just a perception but people on social welfare or stay-at-home mothers have to get their entitlements. My biggest concern is there are many waiver schemes that are not being addressed. I would like the Minister of State to address this and give people who are entitled to it their free legal aid.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I agree with the Senator about the stay-at-home mothers and about the waivers. I accept the point that we have to examine the application and where the applicant depends entirely on social welfare payments, we must be very sensitive. I will bring the Senator's points to the Tánaiste, Deputy Fitzgerald, and I hope we will see progress on this issue.