asked the Minister for Justice if any embargo exists on the replacement of solicitors who resign from legal aid centres.

2.

asked the Minister for Justice the number of solicitors employed at each of the legal aid centres at (a) 31 December, 1982 and (b) 31 December, 1983.

3.

asked the Minister for Justice the current waiting period for the consideration of applications for legal aid at each of the legal aid centres.

(Limerick East): I propose to take Questions Nos. 1, 2 and 3 together. The embargo on filling posts in the public sector applies to solicitor vacancies in the Legal Aid Board and the number of such vacancies so far affected by the embargo is three.

As regards the waiting period for the consideration of applications for legal aid at the board's law centres, the position at the centres in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway, Sligo and at the three Dublin centres at Lower Ormond Quay, Gardiner Street and Aston Quay is that there is no waiting period for cases which in the opinion of the board's officers are emergency cases. The waiting period for less urgent cases and the information required about the number of solicitors employed by the Legal Aid Board are shown in two tabular statements which I propose to circulate in the Official Report.

Waiting period for applicants in non-emergency legal aid cases

No. of solicitors employed at each of the Legal Aid Board's Law Centres

Is the Minister aware that the three centres in the Dublin area are not accepting new cases at the moment and that there is a serious backlog of cases. Does he propose to lift the embargo on the employment of solicitors in the Dublin area to enable cases to be taken as they are applied for?

(Limerick East): There is no waiting period in the Dublin centres for emergency cases but for ordinary cases there is a waiting period. There is no proposal at the moment to lift the embargo on filling solicitor vacancies, of which at present there are three.

Could the Minister indicate what criterion is used to define emergency cases?

(Limerick East): That is a matter for the people in the particular law centres to define. Obviously different circumstances apply in different cases. In general, cases where immediate action is required are emergency type cases.

Is the Minister not aware that the three centres in Dublin at present are refusing to take on any new cases and that this is so in situations where people have a summons to appear in court? Does he regard that as an emergency case?

(Limerick East): In Lower Ormond Quay and in Aston House there is a very long waiting period apart from the emergency cases which I have mentioned. In the Gardiner St. centre applicants can be seen by a solicitor within two or three weeks of their first visit to the law centre.

Does the Minister not consider that the whole system is in need of review to see how dealing with cases can be speeded up? The period of two to three weeks is not accurate. I have been informed that in many cases some people have to wait for six weeks before their cases can be considered.

(Limerick East): The question of an overall review of the system is a separate one. The particular pressure point here is that solicitor posts cannot be filled as a result of the implementation of the embargo on the public service. I am having the situation examined to see if it is possible to fill the posts within the embargo.