Jim O'Callaghan

Publishing both majority and minority reports from the Independent Review Group, the justice, home affairs and migration minister Jim O’Callaghan said: “Access to justice is a fundamental right, central to the rule of law and a cornerstone of mature democracies. Ensuring people have an opportunity to exercise their rights and to seek legal resolutions to matters is important for the wider public good, especially as society evolves and more complex legal issues emerge. 

“For almost 46 years the Civil Legal Aid Scheme has been a critical aspect of the State’s efforts to enhance access to justice. However, as we all recognise, Irish society has changed considerably since the scheme was established and demands on it continue to increase.

“Having a Civil Legal Aid Scheme and a Legal Aid Board which is equipped to meet these changing needs in a timely fashion is critical to ensuring access to justice, particularly for those who have modest means.”

The Independent Review Group, chaired by former Chief Justice Frank Clarke SC, considered many aspects of the scheme. In line with its terms of reference, aspects considered included the appropriateness of the current eligibility thresholds, the scope of the scheme, whether it should remain primarily a family law service and the scheme’s relationship to other forms of state-supports for public and private litigation. 

The chairperson of the Review Group submitted reports from a majority and minority of its membership to Mr O’Callaghan.

Acknowledging that the Review Group did not reach consensus on all matters, Mr O’Callaghan continued: “Both reports note several aspects of the existing scheme which the members feel need to be reformed, including financial thresholds for determining eligibility, and the types of legal cases that the scheme should cover. 

They also recommend provision of a wider range of appropriate services to help people to resolve their legal issues.

Both reports refer to the need for legal needs surveys to better inform our legal support service planning into the future. I am pleased to say that, with the support of the European Commission and the OECD, Ireland will administer its first nationally representative legal needs survey over the coming weeks. Initial results are due in the autumn. This survey will provide invaluable insights and assist in the consideration of the broader implications of the Review’s recommendations. 

Retired Chief Justice Frank Clarke said: “This Review marks the first comprehensive examination of the Civil Legal Aid Scheme in nearly 50 years. Setting out a principle-based, strategic framework for a modern system of civil legal aid in Ireland, its recommendations offer a clear roadmap to transform how the State supports access to justice. 

“The radical reforms proposed represent a critical shift in how legal support is understood and delivered, laying the foundations for a more responsive and user-focussed system for the future.”

Chair of the Council of the Bar of Ireland, Seán Guerin SC said: “The Review Group has identified a need for a much broader-based and more comprehensive civil legal aid system and has provided an outline of how such a system should be structured and implemented. That process will take time, but it is an immensely important one and the Bar Council, in welcoming publication of the Report, calls on the Government to begin that work now with the urgency it so obviously requires.

“The Review Group has clearly stated that existing levels of fee payments significantly impede the ability of the Legal Aid Board to do its job in meeting the legal aid needs of the most vulnerable in society in a timely fashion. That needs to be addressed immediately.

“The recommendation of the Review Group is that an immediate review is required to examine the Legal Aid Board’s ability to recruit and retain in house solicitors and external expertise, including independent expert barristers. The Bar Council calls upon the Government to establish immediately a meaningful, independent, time-limited and binding mechanism to determine adequate fee structures and fee rates for independent, expert barristers who provide civil legal aid.

“The continued application of FEMPI-era pay cuts, long after the process of public sector pay restoration has been completed, is wholly unjustifiable. The Government should implement the immediate and complete reversal of those pay cuts and should do so certainly no later than in the next Budget.”

Chair of the civil state bar committee of the Council, Clíona Cleary BL said: “The 28 recommendations of the Review Group – which go to the heart of constructing and delivering a functioning legal aid system – will be wholly undermined if urgent consideration is not given to how we remunerate those delivering the services at the front line. 

“A recent survey of our own members indicated that 95 per cent can already see that practitioners will exit civil legal aid work in favour of more sustainable fees in other areas of practice. Eighty-two per cent of those surveyed said that they will likely reduce their availability for legal aid work if current fee levels remain unchanged.

“Recommendation 26 provides that the minister for justice should seek the resources required to implement the recommendations in this report which are of a short term and immediate nature through the next Estimates process. This must include the issue of fee restoration.”

Mr Guerin concluded: “The Bar Council is immediately available to engage constructively with the Department of Justice, the Legal Aid Board and all other interested parties in the recommended review.”

President of the Law Society, Eamon Harrington, said: “The right of access to justice is accepted as a constitutional principle and a right under the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Without it, citizens are unable to have their voice heard, to exercise their rights, to challenge discrimination, or to hold decision-makers to account.

“The availability of an effective system of civil legal aid which ensures that citizens of limited means can access legal advice and representation is a core tenet of a functioning, democratic society.

“The scope, financing, and administration of civil legal aid requires urgent reform. The fundamental shortcomings inherent in the current civil legal aid system, include the limited scope of matters covered, the very narrow financial eligibility criteria governing access to the scheme and the low number of solicitors participating in the scheme.

“I’d like to thank Ms. Áine Hynes, the Law Society nominee to the Group, and all those involved under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice Mr Frank Clarke SC for their work and dedication. We are pleased to see the review published and will now examine the recommendations in detail.”