Legal aid in civil cases should be extended immediately to anyone on social welfare, according to a report by the solicitors' professional body, the Law Society.
The report calls for a complete overhaul of the civil legal aid system, which it says is underfunded and understaffed, with very long waiting lists.
Speaking at the report's launch yesterday, the society's director general, Mr Ken Murphy, said the civil legal aid system "must appear at least to be close to breakdown because of underfunding".
Delays of up to 18 months to get help under the scheme were notorious, he said. "This is a national disgrace and the lack of successive governments' funding is also a national disgrace. The key issue facing legal aid in Ireland is the necessity to have it adequately funded." Mr Murphy said the old adage of justice delayed was justice denied remained true.
The report, by the society's Family Law and Civil Legal Aid Committee, recommends that anyone who passes a means test for social welfare should qualify for civil legal aid. Chairwoman Ms Rosemary Horgan said this would save money and avoid the duplication of means tests by various bodies.
Legal aid in civil cases is provided for people on modest incomes by the Legal Aid Board, which operates 30 law centres staffed by 89 solicitors.
The civil legal aid scheme is means tested and is not entirely free, as clients must make a contribution towards the cost. Only people with a disposable income of less than £7,350 a year are eligible for help under the civil legal aid scheme.
These financial criteria were set five years ago, and the committee says they place an unfair restriction on the eligibility of potential customers. The report recommends regular reviews of the financial limits, in line with consumer price index increases.
Ms Horgan said the backlog of cases could be eased if the Legal Aid Board contracted out legal aid services to a nationwide panel of private practitioners.
She said it was not possible to estimate the cost of implementing the report's recommendations, as the Legal Aid Board's annual report does not itemise how much individual cases cost.
The report's other main recommendations include:
Legal aid should be expanded to include all tribunal work and test cases.
If a law centre cannot handle an application for legal services within a month, the Legal Aid Board should contract out that application.
Legal aid clients should be able to choose their solicitor from a law centre or from a panel of private practitioners.
All parties to an adoption dispute should be eligible for legal aid.
The Legal Aid Board should immediately introduce an objective system of quality assurance and a formal complaints-handling procedure.
The Legal Aid Board yesterday welcomed the committee's report, saying its concerns about access to the service dovetailed with its own, which were outlined in its second corporate plan launched last November.
The board's chief executive, Mr Frank Goodman, said waiting times for its services were falling, despite an increase in demand. Some 3,300 people were on the waiting list last year, and this has been reduced to 2,600 this year, he said.
Regarding the report's call for greater involvement of private solicitors in legal aid cases, Mr Goodman said the board's policy was to continue to use its law centres as the primary model for the delivery of legal services. The committee's report will be submitted to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.