Official figures released today to the Social Democrats from the Department of Justice reveal the staggering number and length of time people are waiting for Free Legal Aid in Cork.
In a written answer to a question from Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall, Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD noted the following figures for Cork:
First consultation
For a first consultation, there are 60 people waiting for free legal aid in the Cork Pope’s Quay legal centre and 200 people waiting in the South Mall legal centre. The longest waiting time is 15 weeks and 28 weeks respectively.
Second consultation
For the second consultation, there are no people for Pope’s Quay and 23 for South Mall. One person is waiting 13 weeks at the South Mall centre.
In total, 60 people are waiting for free legal aid at the Pope’s Quay site where the longest person is waiting 15 weeks while 223 people are waiting at the South Mall centre while the longest person there is waiting a total of 41 weeks.
These figures show that the Cork South Mall legal centre has the highest number of people waiting in the whole country and among the longest waiting times also.
The party’s local representative for Cork City South West, Pádraig Rice said:
“Months waiting for legal aid can lead to further difficulties for people, their children, the wider community as well as the court service. The government must ensure that there is an efficient delivery of justice by providing more resources for Cork – waiting lists like this are utterly unacceptable.”
ENDS
27 July 2017