Waiting times for appointments with free legal aid solicitors have fallen significantly, according to the Legal Aid Board. A number of legal aid centres have reduced their waiting period to a matter of weeks, although some blackspots remain.
The worst of these is Newbridge, which had a waiting period for a first appointment of 17 months in February. This was because a solicitor had left and was difficult to replace, according to Frank Brady, the board's director of legal services. However, a new solicitor has now been employed there, and the waiting time is coming down.
Other centres that experienced similar staffing difficulties were Finglas in Dublin, which was down three solicitors, and South Mall in Cork. Two solicitors are being appointed to Finglas next month, Mr Brady said, and additional staff are also being appointed in Cork.
Already one of the waiting-list blackspots, Pope's Quay in Cork, has seen a dramatic turnaround, with a fall in its waiting time from 12 months last year to three months this February.
North Brunswick Street, in Dublin, had a waiting time of almost 15 months in late 2003, and that has now been reduced to five weeks.
By later this year no one should have to wait longer than four months for an initial appointment, according to Mr Brady.
The reduction of the waiting list, which fell from 3,000 throughout the country in September 2004 to less than 2,000 at the end of January this year, is due to an increased budgetary allocation of 15 per cent from the Department of Justice.
This followed a number of years when the allocation was stationary or fell in real terms.
This effective cut in its budget came at a time when the demand for its services increased due to changes in family law legislation and a growing demand for judicial separation and divorce.
The Legal Aid Board now represents parties in two-thirds of all judicial separation cases and one-third of all divorce cases.
"The board deals with many other matters in the family law field, including domestic violence, childcare and child abduction, and these have always received priority," said Mr Brady.