asked the Minister for Justice if he will make a statement on the disposition of funds allocated under the Funds of Suitors Act, 1984 indicating when the dispositions will be made and to which organisations.

Limerick East): I propose to take Questions 2 to 29, inclusive, together.

Civil Legal Aid is governed by the Scheme of Civil Legal Aid and Advice which, in its amended form, was laid before each House of the Oireachtas in May 1983.

I am glad to be able to say that the Government have authorised, following proposals of the Legal Aid Board, the establishment in 1985 of law centres under the Scheme of Civil Legal Aid and Advice in Tallaght, Tralee and Athlone, and of a second law centre in Cork, to be financed to the end of 1987 from moneys available for civil legal aid under the Funds of Suitors Act, 1984, at an estimated cost of £450,000. The Tallaght Law Centre will have two solicitors, and the other centres will have one each.

It is also proposed to open further law centres during 1986 and 1987 at Dundalk, Portlaoise, Castlebar and Letterkenny if sufficient additional funds are available under the Funds of Suitors Act — the availability of further funds will depend on the cost of the new Children's Court for Dublin, which is also to be funded under the Act.

The current position about services at the board's existing law centres is that there is a waiting period of about three to four weeks to see a solicitor for non-emergency cases in Dublin. In Cork, where there is at present one centre, there is a delay of about two weeks, in Limerick there is a delay of four weeks, in Sligo one week, and in Waterford applicants can be seen by a solicitor within two to three days. Emergency cases at all of these centres are dealt with without delay.

The Galway centre has been closed to all new cases since 11 April last. I understand from the board that a second solicitor was assigned to that centre on 22 April to replace a solicitor who is on maternity leave, and this should improve the position there. The total number of cases which the centre dealt with between its establishment in September 1980 and the end of 1983, which is the latest year for which figures are available, was 1,608.

The expansion of services now approved is also expected to improve the position at Galway and Limerick because at present solicitors from these centres provide part time services under the scheme at Athlone and Tralee respectively and that will cease when centres are established in these towns.

The board's proposals do not include a centre at Trim. The board feel that that area can be serviced from Dublin but it would be a matter for the board whether further facilities, including part time facilities, should be provided at Trim, depending on resources available and other relevant circumstances.

A complete exemption for the board from the terms of the Government's staffing embargo is not a realistic proposition. However, as a result of discussions which I had with the Minister for the Public Service last year, the Legal Aid Board obtained a partial exemption from the terms of the embargo to enable three solicitors' vacancies to be filled, and of course the expansion I have just mentioned will involve further recruitment of solicitors and ancillary staff.

The means test provisions under the civil legal aid scheme, which were last revised in May 1983, are under review.

As regards questions about the adequacy of the existing scheme, the demands that are being made on the scheme are so great that, having regard to the limited resources available, any consideration of major changes in the scope of the scheme must be deferred.

As regards voluntary organisations involved in providing legal services, such as FLAC and the Coolock Community Law Centre, the position is that funding for such organisations by my Department ceased shortly after the official civil legal aid scheme came into operation.

As regards Deputy Taylor's question concerning the disposition of funds under the Funds of Suitors Act, the information I have given covers the disposition of these funds in so far as the matter comes within my area of responsibility. Any question of the disposition of such funds in other areas would be a matter to be dealt with by the relevant Ministers.

It has always been the intention that the civil legal aid scheme will be placed on a statutory footing when adequate experience has been gained of its operation. The board have submitted proposals for legislation to me. I intend to have them examined as soon as priorities in other areas have been dealt with. I can say that the absence of legislation has not inhibited the operation of the scheme nor will it inhibit the further expansion now approved.