The Gazette 1992

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1992

FLAC Appeals 'In Desperation' For Funds to Avert Crisis

t o equal t r e a t me nt in soc i al welfare.

The Free Legal Advice Centrés (FLAC) has launched a desperate appeal to solicitors, barristers and friends to avert the closure of its services. FLAC has already had to lay off t wo of its four permanent staff, including our only solicitor, owing to lack of funding for the coming year. Even this drastic measure will not be sufficient and FLAC's services will close entirely unless we can achieve additional funding of £40 , 000. Despite the essential service which we provide, FLAC does not receive any funding from the Government. We have been entirely dependent on the support of the legal professions and other supportive organisations and individuals. FLAC provides a range of vital services which are not provided by any other organisation. These include the following: We provide a helpline for people with legal problems. FLAC gives advice or refers people to services which can deal directly with the special circumstances of their case. FLAC receives over 6,000 phone calls per year, the largest area of queries being family law. FLAC provides representation in well over 100 social welfare and em- ployment tribunal cases each year. These cases are excluded from the government civil legal aid scheme, yet they are often of vital importance to the people involved. FLAC represents people in court cases involving important legal issues. For example, FLAC has represented a woman in a case, cu r r en t ly before t he Supreme Court, wh i ch seeks to establish a constitutional right to legal aid. FLAC is also representing 2 , 000 married women in High Court proceedings to establish the right • • •

afford paid legal services. Many are the victims of family breakups and may need immediate advice as to what they can do to obtain a barring order or to get money to suppo rt t hemse l ves and their families. Such people frequently c a n n ot get adv i ce f r om t he government scheme. There are waiting lists of six months and more in many centres. We have been told by one centre that their waiting list is over 12 months. We feel that FLAC's services are essential and cannot be allowed to close. The Government, and in particular the Minister for Justice, must provide funding for this service. However, we are also appealing to our many friends for whatever support, financial and otherwise, they can give. In doing so we are appealing directly to those who have supported us down through the years to stand by us in this, our most difficult hour. •

• FLAC provides training courses t o v o l u n t a ry and c ommu n i ty groups, particularly in the areas of family, employment and social welfare law. We also produce info- rmation booklets and leaflets. For example, we have produced in- formation leaflets on moneylending and the law and legal aid services. The value of the services wh i ch FLAC provide has been widely recognised. Yet if we can not obtain a guarantee of additional funding for 1992, these services will have to close. We have written to the Minister for Justice calling on him to provide an immediate grant to FLAC to allow our work to continue. We have yet to receive any detailed reply from the Minister. If our services have to close, those who currently avail of these ser- vices will have nowhere to go. Most of our clients are social welfare c l a iman ts w ho simply cannot

Mel Cousins

Administrator,

FLAC.

At the Kerry Law Society Annual Dinner at Benners Hotel, Tralee, on Saturday, 7 December, 1991. Seated from left to right: Mr. Justice H. J. OTIaherty, Supreme Court, Dona/ E. Browne, President, Kerry Law Society, Mrs. Louise McDonagh, County Registrar, Mr. Justice Richard Johnson, High Court. Standing from left: Michael O'Connell, Chairman, Kerry Law Society, Michael Davy, Secretary, Law Society of Northern Ireland, Frank Daly, Vice President, Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, Noel C. Ryan, Director General, Incorporated Law Society of Ireland, and Joseph B. Mannix, Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, Kerry Law Society.

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