Divorce workload means long delays for free legal aid clients

A surge in divorce cases has led to delays of up to 10 months in the time it takes to see a free legal aid solicitor, according to the annual report of the Legal Aid Board.

Demand for free legal aid grew by 29 per cent last year, largely because of the introduction of divorce and domestic violence legislation, the report says. The waiting time to see a solicitor was six months or more in many parts of Dublin, Leinster and Cork.

The chairwoman of the board, Ms Clare Connellan, said it was unfortunate that the continuing growth in resources was being outstripped by the increase in demand for legal aid.

Ms Connellan announced that the board had received sanction for 33 additional staff, including eight new solicitors. This follows negotiations with the Departments of Finance and Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The extra staff will go to law centres with significant waiting lists.

In the first full year of its availability, divorce had a major impact on the demand for legal aid. Almost half of the 2,175 people who sought divorce last year availed of free legal aid.

However, judicial separation cases continued to account for a major part of the board's work. In spite of the introduction of divorce, there was only a slight fall - to 1,211 - in the number of people availing of legal aid in separation cases.

The increase in waiting times was predicted in the board's report for 1996, which said that non-priority cases were likely to have to wait from one to four months longer before most law centres could provide help. By the end of last year the delays had increased by between two and four months, and 957 people were still waiting for assistance with divorce cases.

It took 10 months to secure an appointment with a legal aid solicitor in Offaly and 9.5 months in Kildare, according to the report. In contrast, the waiting time in Cavan, Meath and Waterford was only two weeks.

The rise in divorce cases is expected to continue this year. Three out of every four applications were made by women.

The number of people provided with legal aid increased by 29 per cent last year, to 6,021, and the increase in the number of people seeking legal services was 11 per cent. The board's grant rose from £6.5 million in 1996 to almost £8.4 million. As in previous years, the vast majority of cases - over 90 per cent - dealt with the family law area. After judicial separations and divorce cases, the major categories were barring orders, safety orders, and maintenance and custody cases.

The report also notes an increase of over 50 per cent of cases involving child care proceedings. But it says this does not reflect the complexity of these cases and the amount of additional solicitor time involved. Two new full-time law centres were opened in Newbridge, Co Kildare, and Tullamore, Co Offaly, in 1997. There are now 30 law centres across the State; the number of solicitors they employ has increased from 39 to 81.

Legal expenses for counsels increased significantly, from £685,000 in 1996 to just over £1 million last year. Further substantial increases are forecast for the coming years. A further contributory factor is the rise in child sex abuse cases using video evidence and involving a large number of witnesses.