Civil legal aid funding Budget rise – O’Callaghan
Funding for civil legal aid will be increased in the October Budget, the Minister for Justice has said.
Speaking at the launch of FLAC’s 2025 report, Making the Case for Change, (13 July), Minister Jim O'Callaghan said “talks … are ongoing between myself and the Department of Public Expenditure – but I want to say to you, I am committed to this happening in the budget that is being announced in October.”
O’Callaghan added that while he could not commit to implementing all recommendations from the Civil Legal Aid Review Group immediately, he expected "significant progress".
The minister also acknowledged that civil legal aid required greater investment to ensure access to justice.
He also confirmed that his department and the Legal Aid Board were working together to sequence reforms and begin implementing the review group's recommendations.
FLAC chief executive Eilis Barry welcomed the prospect of increased funding but stressed that funding alone would not resolve the civil legal aid crisis.
She described the current moment as a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to create a modern, fit-for-purpose public legal-assistance system.
Citing the review group’s minority report, she called for a shift towards early, preventative legal support.
This could be through expanded legal information, advice, and advocacy services, alongside new community and specialist law centres, stronger collaboration with Citizens Information Centres, and reforms to private-practitioner panels, Barry said.
The report outlined a strong increase in demand for FLAC services, key among which were:
- Telephone information and referral line: 66,371 calls received in 2025; capacity to answer 14,103 queries, the highest since 2015,
- Employment-law queries hit a record 3,317 (up 42% year-on-year), driven by contract terms, grievance procedures, and dismissals,
- Housing/landlord and tenant queries rose 57.5% to 1,189,
- Domestic-violence queries reached a record 635, up 18%,
- Free legal advice clinics delivered at least 3,640 consultations,
- Independent Law Centre represented 234 clients (124 new files) – 127 housing/homelessness, 91 equality/discrimination, five social welfare,
- Discrimination compensation: clients recovered €91,850 in 2025, across 107 complaints under equality legislation,
- PILA (Public Interest Law Alliance): 29 social-justice organisations assisted; 44,906 pro bono hours logged by 28 Pro Bono Pledge signatories; 38 new referrals taken on.
Key litigation case studies included Mr Justice Meenan’s dismissal of a hotel's appeal in a discrimination case, confirming a Traveller family's entitlement to pursue judicial review alongside a statutory appeal route, and the WRC order for a beauty salon to pay €500 each to three Traveller complainants for discriminatory treatment.
Traveller Legal Service represented 149 clients (accommodation 62%, discrimination 35%).
Roma Legal Clinic
The Roma Legal Clinic represented 52 clients.
The report flagged the continued reliance on High Court judicial review as the only recourse in social housing/homelessness disputes, given the absence of an accessible specialist tribunal.
It also refers to the stalled Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 as the most significant equality law reform proposal in two decades.
Particularly welcome provisions, according to FLAC, are:
- Increasing potential compensation for equal status complaints from €15,000 to €75,000,
- Moving jurisdiction for discrimination complaints against licensed premises from the District Court to the WRC (repealing section 19 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003),
- Strengthened reasonable accommodation requirements for people with disabilities, and
- Greater accessibility in the process for making a claim, including through extended time-limits
The Oireachtas Equality Committee's October 2025 report adopted several FLAC recommendations, including consolidating the legislation and adding a socio-economic status ground.
In its report, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee also called for the bill to be expedited and for expanded legal-aid access in discrimination cases.
Other legislative developments mentioned in the FLAC report include the Bereaved Partner's Pension Act 2025, enacted following the Supreme Court's O'Meara decision in which FLAC acted for the family.
The act, which extends bereavement payment entitlements to qualified cohabitants, potentially affects some 150,000 cohabiting couples/families, although FLAC has raised concerns about provisions that remove entitlements for divorced/separated individuals.
Rejected
Proposed amendments were rejected at Committee and Report Stage.
On the Civil Reform Bill, FLAC has serious concerns regarding proposed restrictions on judicial review, warning this would block routes currently used to challenge unlawful social housing/homelessness decisions.
The report expresses FLAC’s belief that the Oireachtas Justice Committee’s recommendations about the bill should be implemented.
FLAC warns that the Housing Bill could restrict migrants' access to social housing and emergency accommodation.
Regarding third-party litigation funding, FLAC made submissions to the Law Reform Commission (LRC) arguing that existing champerty/maintenance rules should not preclude broader funding models (including crowdfunding and public-interest litigation funds).
Barriers
It also suggested that as part of its next programme of law reform, the LRC should examine the barriers to public-interest litigation in Ireland.
In its submission to the Judicial Appointments Commission, it stated: "The lack of judicial diversity is closely linked to the financial and social inaccessibility of the legal professions."
FLAC's unaudited 2025 income was €1,490,925 (down from €2,481,971 in 2024, largely reflecting a fall in legal costs recovered), against expenditure of €1,634,920. Statutory funding (€841,635) and Bar Council/Law Society contributions (€325,356) remain the largest income sources.