Legal Aid Board warns of delays to divorce and child custody cases due to funding shortage
Department of Justice
has been warned.
Legal Aid Board
chief executive Joan Crawford wrote to the department saying the agency was running €1.3 million over budget as it dealt with a vast increase in cases involving asylum seekers.
She said the board was struggling with 'staff retention issues and low morale' due to the scale of its workload.
Correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act shows Ms Crawford noting that the board was facing a pay bill this year of at least €33.5 million despite only having an allocation of €32.4 million for pay.
Without a budget increase, she said the agency would be forced to immediately cease hiring staff, which would 'render it impossible for [us] to provide the services' required under statute.
Ms Crawford said some law centres would be left with no option but to close to new applications while dealing with backlogs. She said this could leave people in some counties without access to a centre and place further pressure on others nearby.
She said certain cases would have to be prioritised, meaning those involving divorce, separation, child custody and guardianship could be delayed.
The board also said its budget constraints were having a knock-on effect on the courts and judges. 'This is leading to delays in dealing with the conclusion of cases in already difficult situations and where the interests of children are involved.'
Ms Crawford said the pressure on staff was leading to staff departures and dissatisfaction from clients.
'As it stands, the board is regularly losing staff with experience and expertise to other State bodies and government departments who can offer better conditions and better working environments with less pressure due to adequate resourcing.'
A previous letter to the department, dated June 2024, said one of the biggest drivers in demand was 'the exponential increase' in cases involving asylum seekers.
It said the introduction of 'accelerated' processes for dealing with international protection applications had complicated its work, with the board's staffing issues potentially leading to longer stays for applicants and 'costly and lengthy litigation' in the courts.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Asylum seekers left homeless are ‘not in state of degradation incompatible with human dignity', appeal court rules
Asylum seekers left without accommodation on arrival into the State are 'placed in a situation of extreme material poverty', but are not in 'a state of degradation incompatible with human dignity', the Court of Appeal has ruled. The ruling, published on Wednesday, comes in response to an appeal by the State against a judgment of the High Court. In that case, heard last year, the High Court ruled the State had failed in its duty to provide for the basic needs, including accommodation, of international protection applicants, thereby breaching their right to dignity. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) had brought the case in respect of a class of people, namely international protection applicants, who were not offered accommodation when they made their asylum claim having recently arrived in Ireland. READ MORE The State lodged its appeal to that ruling last November, and it was heard in March. When the IHREC began its case in December 2023, there were 259 international protection applicants left unaccommodated. As of July 14th, there were 1,333 male international protection applicants, or asylum seekers, 'awaiting offer of accommodation', Department of Justice data showed. Since December 2023, when the policy of not guaranteeing accommodation to single, male adult asylum seekers accommodation on arrival began, a total of 9,763 have presented to make international protection applications. Accommodation was offered to 1,391 on arrival – generally those triaged as 'vulnerable'. Offers were made subsequent to their arrival in the cases of 7,039 men. In lieu of accommodation this cohort is provided with weekly allowance of €113.80 a week along with information on charities providing food and tents. International protection applicants are not entitled to emergency accommodation. In a statement on Wednesday, the human rights commission said: 'We welcome the fact that the court has confirmed that IHREC has proved that the State had placed international protection applicants in a position of extreme material poverty. 'The court has also clearly confirmed IHREC's entitlement to bring a case of this nature. 'The court has gone on to state that evidence provided by IHREC from a small sample of homeless IP [international protection] applicants was insufficient to prove that those conditions of extreme material poverty undermined the physical and mental health of the 2,800 IP applicants who were the subject of this case to the degree that it breached their right to human dignity.' It said it would fully consider the judgment before commenting further.
RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Court of Appeal rules in State's favour over rights of International Protection applicants
The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of the State after it challenged a High Court ruling regarding the rights of International Protection applicants to have their basic needs, including accommodation, met by the State. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) used its legal power under the 2014 Act - under which it was established - to commence a judicial review in respect of International Protection applicants who were not offered accommodation when they made their asylum claim. A year ago, the High Court ruled that the men had their right to human dignity breached by the State, through its failure to provide for their basic needs and it found that the Charter of Fundamental Rights under European law had been breached. The State appealed the decision on a number of grounds, including the interpretation and/or the application of the 2014 Act by IHREC; the standard and the burden of proof that the High Court applied; and failure regarding relevant considerations, such as the additional needs payment made available which amounts to €113.80 per week. In his judgement published this morning, Mr Justice Anthony M. Collins acknowledged the commission's "express statutory entitlement" to commence proceedings for the purpose of obtaining relief in respect of any matter concerning the human rights of any person or class of persons. The court found that the evidence provided by IHREC from a small sample of homeless IP applicants was insufficient to prove that those conditions of extreme material poverty undermined the physical and mental health of the 2,800 IP applicants who were subject to the case, to the degree that it breached their right to human dignity.
Irish Times
18 hours ago
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on Ireland's response to tariffs: there is a need for strategic thinking
The outline trade agreement between the EU and the US, provided it holds, removes some immediate economic risk for Ireland. But as well as the initial response, it also underlines the line for longer-term strategic thinking about the Irish economy. In the short term, there are calls for supports for Irish businesses exporting to the US to deal with the additional cost. Care is needed here. Companies need assistance to look for new markets. And the Government also needs to examine other ways it can improve their competitiveness in the short term. However, the State cannot provide an ongoing subsidy for businesses to help them to sell to the US at tariff levels that are likely to be in place for some time. Companies can be helped to adjust to the new reality, but there is no point in State support for exports that are no longer economic. Over the coming months, the Government also needs to reexamine its budget sums. As it appears a full-scale trade war can be avoided, the assumptions made in drawing up the Summer Economic Statement, the key pre-budget document published last week, may need to be tweaked rather than torn up. A lot will depend on the details of how different sectors will be affected. READ MORE Ireland must also focus on the longer term. Ireland's economic model has been based in large part on attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) from the US and acting as a bridge between the American and European markets. Of course the State needs to do what it can to protect this and to hope that the framework trade deal is a sign of somewhat calmer times. However, Donald Trump remains determined to attract multinationals in sectors such as pharmaceuticals back to manufacture in the US. And, more fundamentally, the era of relentless globalisation overseen by the World Trade Organisation is over, even if what replaces it is far from clear. And so it is incumbent on Ireland to spread its bets – to diversify its export markets and to work harder to develop indigenous industry. These are both long-term projects and new approaches cannot transform the economy overnight. However, Ireland has focused in policy terms on measures to attract FDI. While domestic firms are supported , too, they often take second place in terms of the allocation of resources and policy attention. This needs to change. Improving the environment for both FDI and indigenous investment also requires vital upgrading of key infrastructure and also human capital – the skills and abilities of the workforce. These areas have been given insufficient attention for some years now – and the price has become clear. The Government's new strategy for competitiveness, promised in the autumn, needs to take a serious view of these issues. It can not be a rehash of current policy.
