Ireland’s system of civil legal aid is “in crisis” and President Catherine Connolly’s comments about continuing “unmet legal needs” here “could not be more timely”, the Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac) said.
In a statement on Wednesday, Flac chief executive Eilis Barry welcomed the comments made by Connolly at a law event in Dublin.
The President referred to the publication in July 2025 of “the long-awaited” review on civil legal aid and to “the unmet legal needs which unfortunately continue to exist”.
The review group, in majority and minority reports, recommended a range of reforms of the civil legal aid system.
READ MORE
In her address on Tuesday evening at the launch at the Law Society of Ireland of the first Dublin branch of the University of Galway business and law alumni, the President, a qualified barrister, said the right of access to justice “underpins” the legal system.
The civil legal aid review “comprehensively lays out the barriers to justice and the costs of not providing access to justice”, she said.
“It is crystal clear from the research presented that it is the vulnerable who suffer the most when deprived of access to justice.”
Integral to access to justice is the constitutional protection given to the Irish language, she said. “Yet, over and over, it has been brought to our attention that serious obstacles remain for those wishing to have their case heard in Gaeilge.”
The review of civil legal aid, the President said, followed criticism of the system from “a number of quarters”, including eight international human rights organisations.
She referred to human rights protections that apply here under European and international law, and the State’s obligation to provide civil legal aid under the European Convention on Human Rights.
She noted a number of “landmark judgments” on a range of human rights issues, such as access to legal aid.
“There is no doubt that the law can be used as a positive force for change,” she said.
The President noted that organisations, including the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Flac and independent and community law centres, “do enormous work, continuously highlighting the gap between our Constitutional provisions and the lived experience of many”.
In her statement, Barry said the President’s comments “could not be more timely and welcome”.
Ireland’s system of civil legal aid “is in crisis and at risk of collapse”, she said. “We need action on the review as a matter of urgency.”
As the chief justice commented in January at a conference on reform of the legal aid system, reform of civil legal aid is “frustratingly slow”, Barry said.
Flac is disappointed there has been “no progress on reforming the system” and that no timeline for responding to the reports and reform has been provided, she said.
