The Gazette 1995

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GAZETTE DECEMBER 1995
A Report on the Activities of FLAC
for 1995
I that individuals and teams are the key
j to successful change in organisations."
Dr. Eddie O'Connor, the recently
appointed president of the IQA and
! Managing Director of Bord na Móna
! said: "It must be recognised that poor
j quality costs as much as 20% of a
company's sales revenue and that im-
proved quality of goods and services
goes hand-in-hand with improved
productivity, lower costs and increased
i profitability. Therefore,.strategic
planning for quality, and quality im-
provement programmes, through a
commitment to excellence in
manufacturing and services, are
I becoming more and more essential to
! the well-being of our nation's
economy".
Each year, ten National Quality
Awards are presented, eight Regional
Awards for manufacturing and two
Service Quality Awards. All current
Quality Mark holders - approximately
351 - are in contention for an Award.
THE PRACTICE
MANAGEMENT
COMMITTEE
Invites suggestions regarding:-
i • Topics for inclusion in the Practice
Management Notes issued monthly.
• Management videos and
publications to be made available in
Library.
Telephone/fax:-
Mr. C. MacDomhnaill/Ms. E. Barry,
| The Law Society.
Phone: 671 0711; Fax: 671 0704
ENGLISH AGENTS:
Agency work undertaken for Irish
Solicitors in both litigation and
non-contentious matters -
including legal aid.
Fearon & Co., Solicitors,
Westminster House,
12 The Broadway, Woking,
Surrey GU21 5AU.
Fax:0044 - 1483 - 725807
The Free Legal Advice Centres
(FLAC) celebrated the 25th
anniversary of our services this year.
The occasion was marked with a
reception attended by President Mary
Robinson. This was an opportunity to
thank our friends, members and, in
particular, volunteers from both the
past and present.
1995 was also important in that the
Minister for Equality and Law Reform
published the long-awaited Civil
Legal Aid Bill which purports to place
the Scheme of Civil Legal Aid and
Advice on a statutory basis. FLAC,
together with the Coolock Community
Law Centre, mounted a significant
campaign to lobby for an extension of
the scope of the Bill. FLAC met with
legislators, gave evidence to
Oireachtas committees, held public
meetings and briefed the press. One of
the main successes of this campaign
was that test cases will no longer be
excluded from the remit of the Legal
Aid Board.
Meanwhile, as always, the FLAC
telephone helpline continued to
provide the essential advice and
referral service. In the period January
to September 1995 we have already
handled over 4,000 calls. Many more
queries are dealt with by the
volunteers in our 17 evening advice
clinics throughout the Dublin and
Cork areas.
Moreover, there was great demand for
our representation service for cases
before the Employment Appeals
Tribunal and Social Welfare Appeals
Officers. While comprehensive
statistics are not yet available for
1995, to date we have acted in over 30
such cases.
In the area of social welfare, we
continued to lobby for an independent
appeals system for those claiming
Supplementary Welfare Allowance
similar to that available to those on
the mainstream social welfare
payments. We were also in a position
to begin to develop our work in the
area of money advice.
FLAC has always maintained an
emphasis on the training of
information givers and this year we
were invited to participate in the
National Social Service Board's
nationwide training programme.
FLAC provided trainers on different
aspects of employment law, social
welfare law and advocacy.
Seminars were another feature of our
training services in 1995. In January
we held our annual labour law event,
in conjunction with the union MSF, on
sexual harassment, the Transfer of
Undertakings Directive and the
Maternity Protection Act, 1994. In
May there was a major conference on
the consequences of divorce, with
speakers examining pension
legislation, property and social
welfare issues and the effects on
children. More recently, in response to
requests from the volunteers, the
topics were a practical guide to family
law in Ireland and civil legal aid.
Publications remained a large part of
our work. At present, work is being
finalised on the fifth title in our series
of guides to social welfare payments,
namely "A Guide to Sickness
Payments". Furthermore, our leaflet
"Know Your Rights" is going into a
second edition this year.
FLAC has an essential role to play in
the provision of legal services to those
unable to afford private practitioners.
This work requires the encouragement
and help of the legal profession. The
ongoing support of solicitors is greatly
heartening to us and we would like to
take this opportunity to thank you for
continuing to assist in 1995.
Sabha Green, Administrator
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