Legal rights group helps nearly 29,000 people in Ireland

Nearly 29,000 people received help from FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) last year, according to a new report which the legal rights group says shows the continuing impact of austerity in Ireland.

According to FLAC’s annual report, most of the 15,866 helpline queries concerned issues like housing, family law, credit & debt, and employment. In local advice clinics, run in conjunction with Citizens Information Centres, 12,881 callers were advised on family law, employment law and credit & debt.

Peter Ward, FLAC chairperson, praised the “generous efforts of hundreds of lawyers all over Ireland” in providing support.

Eilis Barry, FLAC chief executive, criticised the rate of successful appeals of initial refusals of social welfare applications.

Ms Barry said: “The Appeals Office’s own annual report for 2015 shows that nearly 60 per cent of the total of 25,406 appeals on initial refusals of welfare applications were successful.

“That indicates a pressing need for better first-instance decision-making. With appeals still taking on average almost five months to process, people are experiencing real hardship.

“We are particularly concerned about the average processing time of 18 weeks for appeals of supplementary welfare allowance, a payment designed as a safety net for those with no other means to survive.

“The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights last year said it was concerned at the high number of decisions overturned at the appeals stage. It recommended that appeals be decided in a consistent and transparent manner and that appropriate training be provided to decision-makers at first instance.

“More transparency and better consistency can only help vulnerable people and improve the Office’s efficiency.”

FLAC’s public interest law arm, the Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA), last year helped 95 social justice organisations access pro bono legal assistance and other supports from volunteer lawyers.

PILA facilitated a host of legal referrals harnessing for public good the pro bono skills of 300 individual lawyers, 2,000 solicitors in 22 law firms and 4 in-house legal teams.

One example was a pilot project between Inclusion Ireland, Mason Hayes & Curran and the legal team at LinkedIn, seeking to empower people with intellectual disabilities by helping them make a will.