The average maximum waiting time for legal aid is 26 weeks

THE average maximum waiting time for people in County Wexford seeking legal aid appointments is 26 weeks, according to a report published by the Legal Aid Board.

The report also indicates that Wexford has the second longest waiting time period in the country but the law centre in Wexford does not operate a triage approach which helps reduce the waiting time at other centres.

The aim of the triage system is to ensure that applicants get some legal advice in a timely fashion so that if a person is unlikely to get a full legal service within four months of applying he or she should get a preliminary triage appointment with a solicitor within six weeks.

There has been a decrease in the use of the triage system nationally as waiting times, on average, fell below four months. The report states that the waiting time in Wexford could go up or down depending on demand and on the capacity of the law centre to allocate appointments to new clients.

It also revealed that between January and December last year 189 people submitted first registration for family mediation services and of those 87 were confirmed couples.

There was also an average of 16 mediation days, per month, in the Wexford law centre in 2017. The average waiting time period for mediation services last year was 12 weeks which has remained relatively consistent over the last five years, however, it’s expected that waiting times should decrease by the end of this year as a result of measures introduced in 2017.