Flac news janmarch 2015

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F R E E L E G A L A D V I C E C E N T R E S

Recently FLAC co-ordinatedevidence and testimony from civilsociety to produce a parallel or

‘shadow ‘report to the State’s assessmentof progress on economic social andcultural rights. The inside cover of thisreport, entitled Our Voice, Our Rights,features a quote from the late EleanorRoosevelt from 1958 where she said:‘Where, after all, do universal human rightsbegin? In small places, close to home – soclose and so small that they cannot beseen on any maps of the world. Yet theyare the world of the individual person….

where every man, woman and child seeksequal justice, equal opportunity, equaldignity without discrimination…’

The report itself speaks about the right tohousing and also about the right to accessfair systems, but the quote is a timelyreminder that the issue of mortgagearrears and repossessions for failure to paya mortgage is a human rights one. Thenumbers can be overwhelming. Thenumber of private homes in mortgagearrears is 110,336 of which 37,778 are inarrears of two years or more. The average

arrears owed on each account for theselonger-term arrears is nearly €50,000. Thenumber of applications for repos sessionsof private dwelling houses in 2014 was11,424. This does not take into account themany tenants left vulnerable because oftheir landlords’ mortgage problems.

But each of these debts relates to thehome, the household, the world of aperson, a group, a family. It is for most themost important asset they will ever own. Itis chosen with great care and all sorts ofdecisions and consequences hang on its

Legal aid for those in debt?

Continued on page 3

FLAC News SPRING 2015 V10A..qxp_FLAC05 vol15no4 13/04/2015 10:03 Page 1

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T he Legal Aid Board has the powerto waive all or part of its fees onhardship grounds. Fees can also

be paid in instalments. Below we providesome more detail about both of theseoptions.

The Legal Aid Board may reduce or cancelits fee where not doing so would causewhat it calls ‘undue hardship’ to the client.There is no one definition of hardship, butthe Board does take into account aperson’s current finances and personalcircumstances. If the legal aid applicant hasnot already applied to have the fee waivedin full or at least reduced, then he or shemay want to do so by setting out some ofhis or her circumstances that might earn awaiver.

While many clients of the Board mayknow about the possibility of paying byinstalments, they may believe that all ofthese instalments must be paid up beforethey can get legal aid. Indeed it appearsmany employees of the Board also believeso, although this is not actually the case.There is no provision in the legislation thatinstalments must be paid in advance. Theactual regulation provides:

The contributions payable by anapplicant will normally be payable inadvance of the granting of legalservices. Exceptionally, however, con -tri butions may, at the discretion of theBoard, be paid by instalments over aperiod not exceeding twelve monthsfrom the date of the offer of legal aidor advice but this method of paymentshall apply only if the Board issatisfied that the applicant cannotobtain credit elsewhere, or that itwould cause hardship or would be un -reasonable in all the circum stances, torequire payment in advance.

(Regulation 21.5 of Statutory Instrument273/1996)

In other words, to facilitate payment byinstalments, the legal aid applicant mustalso prove hardship. In fact a client mayapply for both deferred payment byinstalment AND waiver or reduction infees by reason of hardship. Therefore atthe same time as requesting that

instalments be deferred, the applicantwould be advised to also ask that the feesbe reduced on hardship grounds.

A person can make these applications bywriting to the Managing Solicitor of therelevant Legal Aid Board Law Centre,requesting a waiver of the fee as paymentwould cause hardship and providing detailsof why this is the case.

Should a person’s application to have thefees waived or to pay by instalment berefused, he or she may appeal that decisionto the Head Office of the Legal Aid Board.It will be necessary to have the refusals inwriting and then appealing the decision,again in writing, to:

The Appeal Committee, Legal AidBoard, Quay Street, Cahirciveen,Co. Kerry.

The countrywide network of FLACcentres is an additional resource whichmay be useful to those seeking legal aid. Alist of all FLAC centres in the country isavailable on www.flac.ie/help. In thesecentres, a person can speak to a solicitoror barrister free of charge regarding his orher situation while waiting for civil legalaid. The volunteer legal advisor will notoffer a ‘second opinion’, but may be able toprovide some useful basic legal informa -tion and advice.

t You can download FLAC's Guideto the Civil Legal Aid System atwww.flac.ie/publications

flac News | Vol. 25, No. 1

in this edition...Legal aid for those in debt? 1 & 3

Waiving, reducing or paying civil legal aid fees by instalment 2

Watching the watchers:Financial Service Ombudsman Review2014 raises more questions than itanswers 4-5

Government makes concessions toGender Recognition Bill 6

German Judge offers insight onTransgender Recognition laws 7

Quick action needed to help people inmortgage arrears difficulty 8

Civil Society bodies voice concerns inOireachtas over protection of basicrights 9

Ethics & the Human Right to Health 10

Focus on FLAC: Eamonn Tansey 11

Focus on FLAC: FLAC Centre @ Maynooth 12-13

PILA update: PILA’s work with NGOs: InclusionIreland in focus 14‘Changing Ireland, Changing law’ 14

Landmark legal development: Collectivehousing complaint under EuropeanCharter deemed admissible 15

First ever survey on pro bono work inIreland published 15

Second report identifies challenges for immigrants accessing socialprotection 16

FLAC News is published quarterly byFree Legal Advice Centres Ltd., 13 Lower Dorset Street, Dublin 1.Editors: Lisa Marie Salley & Yvonne Woods

Contributors: Noeline Blackwell, Emer Butler, MichaelFarrell, Paul Joyce, Alex Keane, EithneLynch, Natasha McAleese, Kevin McCague,Yvonne O’Sullivan, Rachel Power, LisaMarie Salley, Eamonn Tansey, Zsé Varga,Yvonne Woods

Photos: FLAC, Derek Speirs, NaoiseCulhane Photography

Layout & Print: Printwell Design, D3ISSN 07914148

The views of individual contributors donot necessarily represent the views ofFLAC.

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Waiving, reducing or paying civillegal aid fees by instalment

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F L A C N E W S l J A N U A R Y – M A R C H 2 0 1 5

removal or surrender. Therefore even ifwe accept that mortgages may be un sus -tainable and that there must be con se -quences for refusal to pay, it is quiteextraordinary how little support has beenmade available to distressed mortgageholders. With something as important as aperson’s home at stake, it would seemlogical that those at risk would be givenaccess to appropriate financial and legalservices to allow them to assess theirsituation fully and correctly, to presenttheir case to the lender in an organised andinformed way and to be supported in theirinteractions with the institution that waspressing for repayment or their house.

Yet such support is only availablepiecemeal, despite repeated governmentassurances that solving this crisis is apriority. The state-funded Money Adviceand Budgeting Service, apart from itsuseful mortgage information line, has notbeen expanded or resourced to deal withmortgage debt cases at the level required.The state Legal Aid Board provides aservice which is itself struggling to dealwith its caseload, primarily in the familylaw area. Private advocacy organisationshave sprung up and deal with some cases.

Pro bono lawyers and accountants handlesome more. About 50 cases have gonethrough a scheme which converts amortgage to a rental arrangement bytransfer of the property to a voluntaryhousing association. Lenders will pay anaccountant €250 to advise someone onthe consequences of an alternative offerfrom the lender but only after negotiationsare finished.

In a three-point suggestion made in Marchfor solution of long-term arrears inparticular (see page 8), FLAC yet againrepeated its urgent plea to Government torecognise the need for adequate financialand legal support to allow people tounderstand their own situation, to besupported in their negotiations withlenders and, where necessary, to berepresented in repossession proceedings.It is our strong contention that if suchsupport structures were put in place,people would be more confident andinformed, negotiations would be morethorough, better systems would evolveand better outcomes would be achieved.

It has been recently suggested that peoplewith difficult arrears, whose cases have not

been restructured, are ‘un-co-operative’.While there may be such people, they arenot the people coming to FLAC’s door. Wesee people doing their level best with toolittle knowledge, experience and supportto deal with what can often be a chaoticsystem. It has also been suggested thatrepossession pro ceedings are just beingused by lenders to bring borrowers to thenegotiating table. This, surely, cannot be anacceptable use of the law and the judicialsystem. Why would any institution put aperson, a household, a family through thestress and anxiety of the potential loss oftheir home as a negotiating tactic? Wouldit not make more sense to at least ensurea more level playing field by ensuring bothsides have legal representation beforecoming to proceedings? Or at the veryleast, to guarantee that any person indanger of repossession has urgent,immediate access to adequate legal andfinancial advice?

We can come up with a saner system thanwe have right now. We must, if we want tomaintain our view of ourselves as a societythat believes in justice; if we are to haveany respect for the human rights to a fairhearing, to family and to shelter.

In March, to recognise the long-standing and vital commitment of Cavan FLAC volunteers, the local Citizens Information's

Centre (CIC) invited Noeline Blackwell (FLAC Director General) and Zsé Varga (Volunteer Manager) to award the volunteers

with the FLAC Volunteers Golden Pin Award. Congratulations and thank you for all your hard work!

Cavan Volunteer Award Night

Legal aid for those in debt Continued from front page

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Watching the watchers:Financial Service Ombudsman Review 2014

raises more questions than it answers

The Financial Services Ombuds -man’s Bureau recently publishedits Annual Review for 2014.

Appointed by statute, the FSO is theindependent body funded by levies onfinancial services providers that handlescomplaints from consumers on financialservices such as insurance, investmentsand lending. FLAC News readers willrecall our in-depth report published in2014, in which we analysed the operationof the FSO as part of the continuum oflegal protections afforded to consumersof financial services in Ireland.

Our conclusions are presented in thatreport, Redressing the Imbalance. In thisarticle, we critically evaluate the latestdata from the Financial Services Ombuds -man’s Bureau and present some of thefigures from its most recent review.

A general reduction in complaintsThe Executive Summary notes a 42%decrease in the number of complaints inthe year and states that ‘it has nowbecome clear as to the reason for thissignificant reduction in the numbers ofcomplaints: the changes in the policy andpowers of the FSOB in September 2013’.This refers to the power to name andshame financial services providers and theobligation (which already existed in theConsumer Protection Code) to make acomplaint to the provider’s internalcomplaints process before proceeding tothe Financial Services Ombudsman’sBureau.

This conclusion seems to be presentedwithout supporting evidence. FLAC wouldask: Were consumers canvassed on this?Did an increased number of potentialcomplainants state that their complaintwas satisfactorily dealt with at the internalcomplaints stage, thus removing the needfor a further complaint to the Bureau?Have providers reported that they havesignificantly improved their complaintshandling processes as a result of fearingbeing named and shamed?

While some of the decrease may well be

attributable to the increased powers, it ismore than a little presumptuous toassume that it is entirely down to this.

Low success rates This brings us to another factor that mayalso have had an effect on the decrease incomplaints but which goes unremarked inthe Review itself: The continuing lownumbers of substantiated complaints. Ofthose complaints that proceeded to aformal investigation and decision, only justover 6% are described as ‘upheld’. This is avery low figure. To what extent might theslim chances of success be a deterrent topeople bringing complaints in the firstplace?

A further 15% are described as ‘partlyupheld’. In our 2014 report, we note thedissatisfaction of some of ourinterviewees with the FSOB’s conclusionthat their complaint was partly upheld,when the redress ordered was viewed assomewhat derisory. We do not believe,based on the limited evidence uncoveredby these interviews, that the ‘partlyupheld’ category is necessarily anindication of a successful complaint.

SettlementsThe number of formal complaints thatproceeded to an investigation but weresettled at some point during that

investigation continues to be high. At 929,it amounts to 29% of complaints closed in2014. The Review makes some commentsabout settlements that, again, we mighttake issue with.

On page 22, it notes 1) that ‘the Bureauwill only note that a complaint is settledwhere the Complainant [FSOB emphasis]confirms to us that they are satisfied withthe outcome’; and states 2) that settle -ments are welcomed and en couraged bythe Bureau, as every settlement is apositive outcome for both parties [ouremphasis].

A number of further questions and issuesarise here.

t How does the FSOB’s check whethera settlement is adequate? Does itsimply ask the complainant whetherhe or she is satisfied with theoutcome?

t Is there no attempt made to look atthe settlement in the context of, forexample, the strength of thecomplainant’s complaint, the stage atwhich it occurs, whether thecomplainant has access to professionalassistance to discuss the settlement,and any related issues?

t Is the assertion that ‘every settlementis a positive outcome for both parties’not a very sweeping statement thatglosses over the imbalance of powerthat often exists between complainantand provider?

Several factors may potentially induce acomplainant to settle even where he orshe is not satisfied. He or she will alreadyhave had to exhaust the provider’smandatory internal complaints procedureunder the terms of the Central Bank’sConsumer Protection Code and there isanecdotal evidence at least of providersnot meeting the timelines under thoserules. By the time the complainant gets tothe Financial Services Ombudsman’sBureau and finds out that the complaint isessentially an exchange of documentation


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and a paper investigation with very feworal hearings, he or she may be starting tohave second thoughts. Finally, a com -plainant need only look at the very limitedsuccess rates set out above to see that asettlement might be a better idea than aFSO decision.

Complaints disappearing off the radarA related worry is the substantialnumbers of formal complaints that do notprogress because of ‘no further contact’from the complainant. That figure in 2014of 1,234 is again very high and like thesettlements figure surely warrants furtherinvestigation. However the disappearingcomplaint phenomenon passes with littlecomment or concern. A footnote on page31 of the Review does point out thatthese are not regarded as settlements,stating that ‘although we prompt forresponses from the complainant, unlesswe hear to the contrary, then the case is‘closed due to no further contact fromComplainant’.

Again we might ask: How does the Bureauprompt for responses? Is it a phone call, aletter or a more detailed enquiry? TheBureau should have full contact details foreach complainant, so there is nothing tostop it from researching in a more formalway why the complaint has not been pro -gressed, apart from perhaps resourceissues.

The high drop-off rate should give seriouspause for thought; it is conceivable that ifit got in touch with these complainantswith the necessary urgency to show it wasitself very concerned with the trend, theBureau might uncover valuable informa -tion to guide future practice. FLAC’sconcern is that some complaints maydisappear simply because, as found inRedressing the Imbalance the consumerbecomes disillusioned with the pro -cedures, the time taken to process them,the lack of advice to assist with framingcomplaints, low success rates and relatedissues. The scheduled amalgamation of theFSOB with the Pensions Ombudsmanlater in 2015 will offer a chance to revisithow the Bureau does its work and take amore even-handed approach to consumercomplaints on financial services.

t Read the FSO Review athttps://www.financialombudsman.ie

t Download FLAC's analysis paper'Owner-Occupied MortgageArrears' athttp://www.flac.ie/priorityareas/debt-law-reform/

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Snapshot: FSO 2014 statistics

Watching the watchers Continued from page 4

Total number where jurisdiction declined – 1,317

Total number where complaint did not progress to investigation – 1,381

Total number of complaints closed by formal investigation –finding, settlement or mediation – 3,174

Outside FSOB remit 834

Referred on to another body347

136 Issue more appropriate for a court

Complaint withdrawn

No further contact

Findings

147

1,234

928

Mediation

Settled

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2,238

Findings:Not Upheld: 1,749Partly Upheld: 342Upheld: 147

Not Upheld

PartlyUpheld

Upheld7%

15%

78%




F ollowing an agreement inNovember 2014 to settle the LydiaFoy case, the Gender Recognition

Bill was introduced in the Seanad or UpperHouse of the Irish Parliament on 21January 2015.This was one of the keyterms of the settlement and the Foy casewas formally concluded a week later.

The Bill was introduced by Minister forSocial Protection Joan Burton TD. Therewas a detailed debate with no-oneopposing the principle of GenderRecognition and many Senators urgingbroader, more inclusive provisions.

Three main problems with the Bill asintroduced were outlined:

t Applicants would be required to obtaina certificate from a medical practitionerto the effect that they had transitionedor were in the course of transitioningto the gender opposite to the gender inwhich they had been registered. Thiscertificate could be issued only by highlyqualified medical specialists, psychiat -rists or endo crin olo gists, and after a“medical evalua tion”.

t The Bill required an applicant for genderrecognition to be single, thus forcingmarried couples to divorce as a pre-condition for recognition of the Transpartner in her/his preferred gender.

t The minimum age for recognition wasset at 18 years. This could be set asidefor young persons between 16 yearsand 18 years but only if they could getmedical certificates from two medicalspecialists, had the consent of bothparents, and obtained a court orderpermitting them to be officiallyregistered in their preferred gender.

Following three further Seanad debates,the Bill was passed on 17 February, withthe Government making three con ces -sions. It agreed to drop the requirementfor a “medical evaluation” before therequired medical certificate could beobtained. It introduced a clause providingfor an official review of the legislation two

years after it had come into force. And theJunior Minister dealing with the Bill,Deputy Kevin Humphreys, said they wereconsidering using the Bill that wouldprovide for same sex marriages if thereferendum set for 22 May is passed torepeal the “single status” requirement.

The Bill was introduced in the Dáil on 5March. Some 27 Deputies from both sidesof the Chamber supported the principle ofrecognition and a number of GovernmentDeputies called for further amendmentsto make the Bill less restrictive.

During the debate many referenced thebravery of Lydia Foy, with Deputy AnneFerris referring to her as a “champion ofgender equality” whose “commitment tohuman rights and gender rights hasinspired Irish people affected by theseissues to speak up and have their voicesheard.” Deputy Ferris said Lydia “deservesto be thanked by this House and at thesame time given a public apology” due tothe fact that she has “led the struggle inIreland” and emphasising that “it isshameful that it has taken her more than17 years and three court cases to have thehuman rights of so many Irish peoplerecognised by the Oireachtas”.

Some days later Minister Humphreysannounced that the Government was nowprepared to talk to General Practitionersabout including them among the medicalpractitioners who could provide the

certificates required as a pre-condition ofapplying for Gender Recognition. MinisterHumphreys also announced that furtherdiscussion of the Bill would be deferreduntil negotiations with GPs had been con -cluded. At the same time, the Govern mentpublished the draft Marriage Bill toimplement the Marriage Equality referen -dum, if it is carried. The Bill provides forthe repeal of the ‘single status’ clause in theGender Recognition Bill. There was now adistinct possibility that the Bill would notbe passed until after the same sexmarriage referendum.

Therefore if consideration of the GenderRecognition Bill is deferred until after thereferendum, the issue may no longer arise.

Overall, while the Trans community andallies are disappointed that the Bill is notmore progressive and has not kept pacewith some European countries andArgentina, they have achieved somesignificant improvements in the Billcompared with the first draft which waspublished just under two years ago. Itseems that the level of medicalinvolvement will be significantly reduced,the ‘single status’ requirement will beremoved if the marriage equality referen -dum is carried, and there will be anotherchance to secure further improvementswhen the legislation is reviewed in twoyears’ time.

Government makes concessions toGender Recognition Bill

Former FLAC intern Maria Victory, Lydia Foy and Michael Farrell




Insight from German Judge on plannedTransgender Recognition laws

J udge of the Bundesgerichtshof – orGerman Federal Supreme Court –Professor Dr Johanna Schmidt-

Räntsch delivered a keynote speech to arapt audience on ‘(Trans)Gender Recog -nition in Germany: The Role of theGerman Courts’ in UCD’s SutherlandSchool of Law on 5 February 2015. Theevent was organised by FLAC in associa -tion with the UCD Human Rights Net -work and UCD Sutherland School of Law.It was chaired by former Judge of theSupreme Court, the Honourable MrsJustice Catherine McGuinness.

The event was organised as the GenderRecognition Bill has come before the Irishparliament, which will finally give trans -gender people in Ireland legal recognition.However despite the broad welcome forthe Bill as initiated, many campaigners feelit is still not inclusive enough (see pageopposite for update). The event organisersfelt there was much to learn from theexperience of other European countrieslike Germany, where the ConstitutionalCourt struck down a similar ‘compulsorydivorce’ provision and other provisions ofthe German Transsexual Law as being inbreach of the German Constitution.

Since 2002, Judge Schmidt-Räntsch hasbeen a judge of the German FederalSupreme Court, the highest court inGermany for criminal and private lawmatters. She is Professor of Law atHumboldt University in Berlin and is anexpert and co-author of the leading texton the German Judiciary Act as well asbeing an expert on property law. Beforeher appointment to the Court, she was asenior advisor to the German Federal

Justice Department from 1991; prior tothat she was a judge in the higher regionalcourts of Cologne and Bonn.

Following an introduction from Mrs JusticeMcGuinness, Judge Schmidt- Räntsch gavea clear and comprehensive overview ofhow transgender recognition laws haddeveloped in Germany since their firstintroduction in the 1970s. She contrastedthe current Irish and German legal pro -visions, saying the first trans recognitionlaw in Germany dates as far back as 1978and required applicants to have undergonea sex-change operation. This caused a lotof controversy because many transgenderpeople could not afford surgery, which wasalso risky in terms of health. Anotherrequirement was that applicants be un -married, which meant married Transpeople were forced to seek a divorceregardless of whether they wanted one.These factors left many Trans peopleuneasy about the legal recognitionprocess. This led the way to a partialrecognition option which allowed a personto change his or her first name but not thegender designation and did not require adivorce or surgery.

Because health insurance companies inGermany will not cover the cost of neces -sary medical treatments, such as reassign -ment surgery, unless the the applicant ismedically certified as suffering from anillness, this remains a problem for the Transcommunity in Germany. The insurancecompany will seek two indepen d entexpert opinions approved by the localcourt for legal recognition. However, apartfrom the health insurance issue, other legalbarriers to Trans recognition – such asforced divorce, age and citizenship have all

been removed through various courtrulings. Until 1982, applicants had to beover 25 to register a different sex or firstname; in 2007 the age limit was abolishedaltogeth er. Today, an applicant need noteven have reached the age of maturity.From 2007 Germany also abolished arequirement that applicants be Germancitizens.

FLAC Senior Solicitor Michael Farrell andExecutive Director of the TransgenderEquality Network Ireland (TENI) BrodenGiambrone responded to the keynote,with Michael outlining the circumstancesof the Lydia Foy case, which is the land -mark legal action driving the introductionof legislation. Ms Foy was also present atthe lecture and was praised by all speakersas a champion of Trans rights and recogni -tion in Ireland. Broden spoke eloquently ofthe campaign for recognition and des -cribed how many Trans people felt letdown by the Bill given its provisions asoutlined above. Both called for the mostgenerous and inclusive legislation pos sible,given how long it has taken to arrive andthe opportunity to learn from bestpractice and new understanding of Trans -gender identity from other jurisdic tions.The audience had many remarks andquestions to speakers, including severalfrom members of the Trans communitywho outlined their own personal ex -perien ces in the Irish context.

FLAC and its co-hosts are very grateful toJudge Schmidt-Räntsch for her excellentoverview of German law with manylessons for the Irish situation.

t Irish Times interview with Judge JohannaSchmidt-Räntsch: http://bit.ly/JSRiview

Dr Liam Thornton, TENI’s Broden Giambrone, Judge Johanna Schmidt-Räntsch, Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness and FLAC’s Michael Farrell


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An earlier version of this article appeared inthe Evening Echo on 12 March 2015 and isreprinted here by kind permission.

Every week in Circuit Courts thelength and breadth of this country,an increasing number of borrowers

face legal pro ceedings for repossession oftheir family home without access to legalassistance from the State to defend theirposition. Recently updated figures from theCentral Bank confirm that a total of 11,424such applications were brought by lendersin 2014.

No more than 12 months out from anelection, it can be difficult to spin hardfacts, but that does not stop the currentadministration from trying. Minister forFinance Michael Noonan is reported assaying that banks are using the threat ofrepossession to get home owners toengage with them. The figures, he said,don’t show a lot of houses beingrepossessed by the banks. It is true that anapplication does not necessarily result inrepossession. However, some otherrelevant figures for 2014 include:

t 968 Possession Orders granted onfamily homes.

t 313 family homes repossessed onfoot of Possession Orders.

t 998 family homes voluntarilysurrendered or abandoned.

Critically, the numbers rose with eachquarter in 2014, so that in the last threemonths of the year 314 orders weregranted, 123 homes were repossessed and306 homes were voluntarily surrendered.The rise in applications also means a largenumber of cases in the system, all of whichtake time to be processed; even when anorder is granted, a stay may be put on itand there may be delays in carrying it out.Thus these numbers will inevitable in -crease as cases work through the system.

Some will be put on hold or adjournedgenerally as the lender and borrowerreach a new agreement on payments - the‘engagement’ referred to by the Minister.Quite apart from how fair or indeedrealistic the engagement can be when the

borrower’s back is firmly against the wall,we might ask whether Minister Noonanbelieves it is appropriate for lenders toconduct negotiations with their customersvia the courts, especially when many ofthem have already been substantially bailedout by the taxpayer.

Nevertheless, it might be asked what alender can do when a borrower will notco-operate, but take him or her to court?And here is where the spin comes in again.This time it is the turn of Minister forJustice Frances Fitzgerald, who in hercontribution to a recent debate (on theFamily Home Settlement Arrangement Billproposed by Michael McGrath TD) stated‘[i]t is a fact that the majority of those inlong term mortgage arrears – i.e. arrearssubsisting over 720 days – are consideredby the Central Bank as “non-cooperating”borrowers in that they have not engagedwith their lender in any meaningful wayunder the Code of Conduct on MortgageArrears.”

We in FLAC have been monitoring CentralBank statistics very closely for the past fewyears, but have never seen it produce thisalleged ‘fact’ – that most of the almost38,000 account holders in arrears formore than two years are not co-operating.Granted, there has been much speculationabout the extent of borrower non-cooperation. So where is Minister Fitz -gerald getting this information from? Is itspeculation dressed up as fact or is itinformation that the Central Bank has notmade public? If it is speculation, it is illadvised at a time of extreme difficulty forso many households. If it is newinformation, why is it not published so itcan be scrutinised and questioned bydebtor advocates?

Indeed, we might ask how many timeslenders have been declared as not co-operating? We are talking here about howarrears cases are sometimes processed bylenders under the Code of Conduct onMortgage Arrears – such as files goingmissing, correspondence mysteriouslynever received, excessive harassing phonecalls, decisions with very little detail,appeals turned down with no explanationand assorted instances of misinformation.The answer is none, because the Code ofConduct on Mortgage Arrears contains nodefinition of a non-cooperating lender.

The situation is now as urgent as it wasalways destined to be in the absence of acoherent, rigorous and above all well-informed approach to resolution; onewhere the state, not the lending industry, isin control of the process. In FLAC’s view,three things now need to happen quickly.

t Borrowers in mortgage arrears musthave access to the full range of debt,financial and legal advice to help themreach sustainable restructuringarrangements on their mortgage andother debts with their creditors,including access to legal representationin repossession cases where necessary.

t Lender decisions under the CCMAand the Personal Insolvency Act mustbe open to review by an independentthird party before repossessionbecomes a possibility, a role that couldbe played by the currently underusedInsolvency Service of Ireland.

t For those whose mortgages areunfortunately financially unsustainablein the long run, an expanded and prop -erly resourced mortgage-to- rentscheme option with far less rigorousqualification criteria should be put inplace.

Speaking ahead of a recent Cabinetmeeting, the Taoiseach said thegovernment did not want to see housesrepossessed and that he would like to seethe banks doing more for people inmortgage difficulty. FLAC would like to seethe government doing more for people inmortgage difficulty. Leaving it largely up tothe banks is what has got us to this point.

Quick action needed to help people inmortgage arrears difficulty


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Civil Society bodies voice concerns inOireachtas over protection of basic rights

In March a delegation of Irish organisa -tions addressed members of theOireachtas on human rights issues

outlined in Our Voice, Our Rights, a civilsociety report coordinated by FLAC. It ispart of the UN process under the Inter -national Covenant on Economic, Social andCultural Rights and examines how econo -mic, social and cultural rights in Irelandhave been protected over the last thirteenyears from viewpoint of organisa tionsworking on the ground.

The Irish State must also report to the UNCommittee and respond to a list ofspecific questions from December last. Theprocess culminates in an examination inJune by the Committee of how the Statehas met its obligations on economic, socialand cultural rights. The Irish governmentresponse was due 17 March.

Launched in November 2014, Our Voice, OurRights features contributions from overfifty organisations and endorsements frommore than thirty to date. The human rightsissues in the report reflect everydayconcerns around access to public services,adequacy and provision of these servicesand affordability for people to basicservices to ensure a person’s right to anadequate standard of living.

The groups assembled in the LeinsterHouse AV Room, on the kind invitation ofDeputy Pearse Doherty. FLAC’s NoelineBlackwell gave an overview of the import -ance of human rights law in protecting themost vulnerable in society, the credence

the government gives its human rightsrecord internationally and how this can bewielded properly by civil society to achievespecific outcomes.

Five organisations – Inclusion Ireland,INOU, Focus Ireland, Irish Heart Founda -tion and Pavee Point – presented specificissues of concern, with others speakingfrom the floor. Jim Winters of InclusionIreland focused on employment, where thestate is failing to meet internationalobligations to persons with disabilities.Sheltered workshops offer employment todisabled persons as well as receivingpersonal support services, but there aregrave concerns around the level ofprotection afforded employees; noinspections are carried out of suchworkshops. Jim reminded all present thatIreland has yet to ratify the InternationalConvention on the Rights of Persons withDisabilities.

The INOU’s Brid O’Brien stated thatgovernment cannot ensure the right tosocial security and the right to work ifsupport services and adequate funding arenot part of the equation. Although thegovernment mantra post-recession hasbeen activation and jobs, she said qualityopportunities and quality jobs should bepart of the discourse.

Housing, in particular the provision ofsocial housing and increasing homelessnesssince the recession, was addressed by MikeAllen of Focus Ireland. He welcomedproposals to increase social housing stockas well as the state response to emergency

accommodation for homeless people inDublin. Although these are moving in theright direction, Mike was concerned at thepace and level of action required to addressthe overwhelming numbers of people inneed of adequate accom moda tion.

The Irish Heart Foundation’s ClionaLoughnane talked about the right to accessthe highest attainable standard of health.Ireland’s two-tier healthcare system wasnamed as the major factor in the wideningof health inequalities and health outcomesin Ireland, in particular during austerity.Cliona explained that the shift inhealthcare costs from the state to theindividual has led to financial hardship forpeople and many are as a result not seek -ing necessary medical care. The govern -ment must make better informeddecisions on where to prioritise resourcesand on the future direction of the Irishhealthcare system, she said.

Martin Collins of Pavee Point spoke aboutthe recognition of Traveller ethnicity, whichwas been recommended by the JointOireachtas Committee on Justice andEquality. He outlined what such a movewould mean in terms of greater protectionand promotion of Travellers’ overalleconomic, social and cultural rights. Thebriefing finished with questions and furthercontributions from the floor.

t Ireland will be examined at theUN Headquarters in Geneva on8 & 9 June. Keep up to date ondevelopments atwww.ourvoiceourrights.ie

A delegation of Irish organisations addressing members of the Oireachtas on human rights issues


t

A conference on the Human Rightto Health took place on Friday 6February 2015 in NUI Galway, as

part of the President’s ‘Ethics’ initiativewhich aims among other things to en cour -age an ethical discussion about the con -nec tions between economy and socie ty.The event was convened by the IrishCentre for Human Rights and the NUIGalway College of Medicine, Nursing &Health Sciences.

In his opening address, President Higginssaid there is an economic and fiscalshadow over any human rights discussion.At present, he contended, a clearseparation existed between economicsand human rights. In this regard, thecontradiction of our times is the dilemmafaced by elected governments in terms ofseeking to respond to citizens’ wants buthaving to stay within the lock of theinvisible fist of markets, he said.

The President said the project of develop -ing a recognition and vindication of rightsof this nature was a political one, but clearexamples of its success existed. Judicialprotection of the right to health in SouthAfrica had led to positive develop ments inrelation to the provision of retroviral care,and this was supported by a positivepolitical environment. He suggested afocus on ethics would help reconcile thedifferences between the values of humansociety and those of the market.

Professor Sofia Gruskin of the Universityof Southern California’s Institute for Glo -bal Health spoke about the importance ofrecognising and protecting rights when itcomes to improving health care. If we wantto achieve health and wellbeing, we needto know the constellation of rights thatexist, she said. She said awareness ofeconomic, social and cultural rights shouldbe at the foundation of education, trainingand research in relation to health.

Cliona Loughnane of the Irish HeartFound a tion discussed the inter con nect -edness between economics and humanrights when it comes to the provision ofhealth care. She used the example of theneed to make adequate rehabilitation careavailable to stroke victims to demonstratehow vindicating human rights could makeeconomic sense too. More patients wouldbe able to live independently for longerand make an economic contribution ifgiven an adequate standard of care. She

echoed President Higgins’ commentsabout the separation between the econ -omy and human rights, saying thatchildhood obesity was an example of thedissonance between human rights andmarket forces.

Les Allamby, Chief Commissioner of theNorthern Ireland Human Rights Com mis -sion, said the Commission’s human rightsenquiry into emergency health care in theNorth revealed the connection betweenspending decisions and upholding humanrights. As an example, he explained that athird of people who are reported to policeas missing had recently been in hospital.The net result of leaving vulnerable peoplefor extended periods of time in Accident

and Emergency was that it was using upscarce policing resources.

Journalist, lecturer and health policyanalyst Sara Burke spoke on the impact ofausterity on the Irish health system. Shementioned how Ireland has been des -cribed as an extreme outlier when itcomes to cost for patients. During theboom, fundamental issues of access andquality had not been addressed. Sheechoed the President’s comments thatvindicating human rights in relation tohealth care was fundamentally a politicalproject.

t More information on the eventat http://bit.ly/R2Hconf2015



Ethics and the Human Right to Health

FLAC legal information in print and online

FLAC produces basic guides to legal issues in print and alsoavailable to download from ourwebsite. We also have FLACsheetsexplaining law and highlightingconcerns in our specific campaignareas, such as personal debt, socialwelfare and civil legal aid. Checkout www.flac.ie/publications to seethe full range online – our infoleaflets are available at your localCitizens Information Centre orFLAC centre.

separation

mainenance

domestic violence

family law and children

divorce

change of name by deed poll

enduring power ofattorney

probate

wills

landlord and tenant



Eamonn Tansey, PILA Project Officer

Eamonn Tansey joined FLAC in 2013as a Legal and communicationsIntern, before progressing in mid-

2014 to become Project Officer for thePublic Interest Law Alliance (PILA) team.He completed an undergraduate Artsdegree in Legal Science and Geographyfollowed by a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) atNUI Galway, before going on to do aMasters degree in Public International Lawat the University of Utrecht in theNetherlands.

During his LLB, Eamonn found the mostinteresting modules were those sur -rounding ‘The Law of the Sea’. For thisreason, on completion of his law degreeEamonn began an internship with theDepartment of Transport as Junior Leg isla -tor for maritime legislation, des cribing thisas his ‘first contact with human rights’during which time he learnt a great dealwhile attending Dail debates andconducting legal research.

Eamonn was then accepted into a Mastersprogramme in Public International Law atthe University of Utrecht. The university isrenowned for its work on human rightsand environmental law, also housing theNetherlands Institute for the Law of theSea. Eamonn enjoyed this time greatlyespecially the work he completed as a partof his thesis. In his thesis on ‘Slavery onFishing Vessels’, Eamonn argued thatalthough it has generally been abolished inlegislative terms, the definition of ‘slavery’is still relevant; de facto slavery continuesas a reality for many, therefore heconcluded that the definition of slavery isstill the best concept to use in cases of‘slavery’ on fishing vessels.

Originally Eamonn was given 3 months todo his thesis, but extended this time by 6months in order to complete a legal in -tern ship with the international environ -mental protection organisation, Green -peace. Combining his appetites for humanrights, environmental law and the law ofthe sea, Eamonn thrived during his timewith Greenpeace supporting their cam -paigns in a legal capacity.

In 2013, he returned to Ireland, joiningFLAC in September and PILA the followingyear. Eamonn believes the biggest challengehe faced in his latest role as PILA Projectofficer was “to maintain the importantrelationships developed with our many

non-governmental organisation partners inthe previous five years of the project.”Despite already being aware of PILA’sgreat work on a variety of policy areas, hebelieved that “getting to grips with thePILA pro bono Referral scheme was ofutmost importance, as It is often our mostcommon point of contact with our NGOpartners.”

Eamonn has enjoyed his work with FLACon a variety of campaigns over the lastyear, most notably the human rightsbudgeting campaign and the ongoing workin relation to the Irish State’s examinationunder the International Covenant onEconomic, Social and Cultural Rights(ICESCR). This latter work “engages avariety of civil society organisations, bothPILA partner NGOs and others, indeveloping a parallel report on Ireland’shuman rights record under the covenantover the past 13 years,” he explains.

Eamonn has found the most satisfying partof his work to be the provision of legalassistance to partner NGOs on a dailybasis on a variety of policy areas. As hedescribes, “This work allows our partnerNGOs to concentrate on what they dobest, be it campaigning for genderrecognition legislation, marriage equalityor the rights of persons with disabilities.”He concludes: “To say the work isrewarding would be an under-statement!”


VHI Women'sMini Marathon

2015 Register now to run,walk or jog for FLAC!

The 2015 Women’s Mini Marathon willtake place on Monday 1 June. Over40,000 participants will run, jog orwalk their way along the 10km routethrough the streets of Dublin. If you areinterested in taking part while at thesame time promoting equal access tojustice, consider joining Team FLAC!The first steps to getting involved are:t Sign up for the Race: you can either

register online atwww.vhiwomensminimarathon.ieexternal link or using the officialentry form which will appear in theHerald every Wednesday andSaturday. The cost is €18 throughthe herald and €19 online (€1supplement applies for cardpayments). The deadline forregistration is 17 April, or when themaximum number of entrants isreached. This has happened quiteearly in the past so sign up ASAP toavoid disappointment!

t Let us know: get in touch with ushere in FLAC to let us know thatyou are taking part for Team FLAC.We will then send you a FLAC t-shirt and fundraising materials toassist you. Either phone us on 01887 3600 and ask to speak to Emeror email [email protected] . Welook forward to hearing from you!

All money raised will go to supportingequal access to justice in Ireland.

F O C U S O N F L A C



In the Kildare town of Maynooth, theFree Legal Advice services available tothe public differ considerably from

other parts of the country. Here MaynoothFLAC, which is based in the town’s CitizensInformation Centre, works in co-operationwith the FLAC student society based inMaynooth University (previously NUIMaynooth).

Maynooth CIC was set up in 1986 by localvolunteers. The service has evolved overthe years and today it has two full-time andtwo part-time staff supported by sixvolunteers providing free advice to over20,000 people in the North Kildare areaevery year.

The FLAC clinics in Maynooth wereestablished by local solicitors and bar -risters in 2000. The service in MaynoothCIC take place every second Thursday,while the FLAC student society providesits free clinic every third week at theUniversity. Maynooth CIC is managed byBreda Gormally, Development Manager ofthe North Kildare Citizens InformationServices, while solicitor Jessica Hickeymanages the volunteers in the FLACclinics.

Amongst other activities, the FLACUniversity Societies organise advice clinicsunder the supervision of a qualified lawyer.At the University, the clinic was set up withthe help of the Law Department, inparticular Deirdre McGowan, a FLACVolunteer whose support for the studentsociety was crucial during her time as aPhD student. The two services havedeveloped a good relationship over theyears and represent a partnership that notonly helps to provide extensive legalsupport to a large community but alsoallows law students to gain vital experiencein pro bono work.

Emmet Lande, President of the FLACstudent society, explains that the clinichelps an average of 8 callers once every 3weeks. The clinics are predominantlystudent-run where in the student willaccompany a barrister or solicitor intomeetings with callers. Emmet talks abouthow beneficial the service is not only interms of reducing the pressure onMaynooth Town FLAC, but that it’s also achance for the students to ‘give back’, a

system where “each student has their ownexperience, starting with first years, whohelp to facilitate the whole evening.” Hesays the most common legal queries at theUniversity FLAC at present involvelandlord & tenant law, separation ordomestic issues and road traffic offences.

Jessica Hickey praises the success of theservice, explaining that ‘’there are a numberof factors that makes this FLAC asuccessful one: The group of volunteers isvery mixed in every sense, solicitors

andbarristers, mix of age groups, mix ofexpertise. Also there is a strong sense ofcommunity within the service.’’ She under -lines the importance of the ‘’inter-referrals’’ between the university and theservices of the Money Advice & BudgetingService, the CIC and FLAC.

Jessica highlights “the fantastic andcommitted support from Breda Gormallyin the CIC and the great facilities of theservice”. She stresses the importance eachvolunteer’s contribution, as she believes


Maynooth FLAC and Maynooth University FLAC

Left: Maynooth Citizens Information Centre and Right: Maynooth student FLAC members

FLAC volunteers Mike Hennigan, Kulwant Gill and David Powderly with CIC Development Manager BredaGormally (second from right).





that the system “would not work withoutthe individual commitment of eachvolunteer who turn up every time”.

Michael Heneghan has been a FLACvolunteer for over a year and talks aboutwhat he believes is a ‘death’ of legal aid inIreland, “exacerbated by the financial crisisof 2008”. He also highlights the importanceof collaboration to ensure that adviceservices remain strong throughout suchdifficult times.

Kulwant Gill talks passionately of her verypositive experience as a volunteer withMaynooth FLAC since 2013: “I recently hada woman who was bullied, harassed andvictimised in work. She came in looking forlegal advice and left with a sense of pride,self-worth and dignity. The act of com -passion and kindness cannot be learnedfrom books, but once you show it, it hassuch a colossal effect on the other person.”

The experiences of all these volunteers

show the huge level of dedication and hardwork involved. This collaboration is anexample of a very efficient relationship thatextends the reach of the volunteer legaladvisors in Maynooth while allowingstudents to develop their knowledge of lawand expertise by helping people. Thebenefit to the local community is essential,as Michael Heneghan points out, at a timewhere people do not have the means toaccess legal advice any other way.

FLAC is seeking solicitors and barristers who are qualified to practice in Ireland to

volunteer as advisors in our legal advice centres.

Volunteer advisors are asked to commit to dedicating two hours of their time a month to

providing legal information and advice to members of the public who otherwise would not

be able to access it.

Centres needing new volunteers at the moment include: Letterkenny, Tuam, Portlaoise,

Wicklow Town, Arklow, Naas, Stillorgan, Swords, Blessington, Limerick, Navan, Newbridge,

Bray, Tallaght, Finglas and Blanchardstown.

If you are interested in using your skills and time to become a FLAC volunteer or if you

have any questions about volunteering with FLAC, please get in touch with Zsé Varga,

Volunteer & Centres Manager by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 01 887 3600.

Help make access to justice a reality





Inclusion Ireland is the national organisationadvocating for the rights of people with intellectualdisabilities. It has been providing information and

support to people with disabilities and their families forover fifty years.

One of the earliest NGOs to engage with the Public Interest LawAlliance (PILA), Inclusion Ireland recognised the enormous value andbenefit of using the pro bono referral scheme. There are a number ofways in which organisations can engage with the referral schemes;from legal advice in conjunction with an organisation’s policy andcampaign work, to strategic law reform work and/or litigation, tobespoke legal education sessions delivered to staff and volunteers.

Over the years, Inclusion Ireland has utilised the PILA pro bonoreferral scheme on a number of occasions and found it very useful, asexplained by Jim Winters. Advocacy and Rights Officer with InclusionIreland. Quite often, the organisation requires independent advice oropinion on a particular area of law reform, policy or practice. It doesnot have the in-house legal expertise required and cannot afford topay for such work. With a register of 17 law firms and over 250barristers, PILA is able to ‘match’ Inclusion Ireland’s legal needs withthe interests and expertise of a volunteer legal practitioner.

Commenting on the service, Jim notes that “Inclusion Ireland hasreceived independent and fresh perspectives over a broad range ofissues, including charges for persons in receipt of patient services, legalcapacity and decision making, the use of seclusion, restraint, regulationand inspection of disability services and reasonable accommodationfor voters.” The legal advice is linked directly to Inclusion Ireland’sadvocacy work and as Jim says, “it is often used to inform submissionsto government departments or public bodies. Sometime theinformation provided just helps to consider the issue in a differentlight, with a new lens”.

PILA’s contribution to Inclusion Ireland’s work was recognised in theirmost recent annual report, a copy of which is available on theirwebsite.

If you would like to learn more about the PILA pro bono referralscheme, either as an organisation using our services or would like tojoin the register as a pro bono practitioner you can contact PILA LegalOfficer Eithne Lynch at [email protected] for further details!

t Learn more about Inclusion Ireland’s work athttp://www.inclusionireland.ie/

o

PUBLIC INTEREST LAW ALLIANCEU P d A T E

PILA’s work with NGOs:Inclusion Ireland in focus

PILA is delighted to join Dublin Institute of Technology(DIT) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) as leadcommunity partner for a new project called ‘ChangingIreland, Changing Law’. The project recently won a NewFoundations Award from the Irish Research Council.

The Council launched the New Foundations Award as away of ensuring that high-quality research coming out ofIreland contributes to social innovation, and helps sociallyexcluded and marginalised groups. It has awarded almost€400,000 in funding to more than 40 research projectsunder its ‘Engaging Civic Society’ initiative.

‘Changing Ireland, Changing Law’ sees PILA team up withMary Rogan of DIT and Ivana Bacik of TCD, along withthe Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, the ImmigrantCouncil of Ireland and the National Women’s Council ofIreland. The project will examine the connectionsbetween social and legal change in Ireland. It will facilitatereflection by lawmakers, judges, academics and interestgroups on three themes: how laws have changed societyand societal attitudes; how strategic litigation has changedIrish society; and whether the law has kept pace withsocietal change.

Updates will be posted on the PILA website and in thePILA Bulletin so stay tuned!

‘Changing Ireland,Changing Law’ projectwins research award

F O C U S O N P I L A

INCLUSION IRELAND




Landmark legal development: Collective housing complaint under European

Charter deemed admissible

t

Alandmark collective complaintagainst Ireland, which outlinesappalling and widespread sub-

standard housing issues affecting thousandsof people across 20 Local Authorityhousing estates, has been deemedadmissible for further investigation by theEuropean Committee of Social Rights.

The complaint was lodged in July 2014 byFIDH – International Federation forHuman Rights, which has the requiredstanding, in collaboration with its associatemember in Ireland FLAC, and facilitated byPILA. The Committee’s decision wasadopted on 17 March and made public onTuesday 24 March.

The Collective Complaint – the result offive years of evidence-gathering across 20communities facilitated by CommunityAction Network – alleges that Irish law,policy and practices on Local Authorityhousing do not comply with Europeanstandards for families. These comprisestandards relating to housing, socialprotection and anti-discrimination stand -ards. The complaint states that poorconditions and other issues on estatesviolate key articles of the Revised Euro -pean Social Charter, which Ireland signedup to in 2000, including the right to healthand the right of family and children to havesocial, legal and economic protection.

The revised Charter is a regional humanrights treaty protecting economic, socialand cultural rights, drafted by the Councilof Europe. It is a complement to theEuropean Convention on Human Rightswhich protects civil and political rights. TheCharter provides a platform upon whichsignatory states will be judged in relationto their compliance with and realisation ofeconomic, social and cultural rightsnationally.

Following the declaration of admissibility,the Irish Government have been invited tomake representations to the Committeewith a deadline of 28 May. Following this,it is most likely that FIDH will be given anopportunity to make further representa -tions before a decision on the merits ofthe Complaint are published.

At a press conference to announce thedecision, tenants from old and relativelynew local authority estates spoke aboutthe experiences of families living withdampness, mould, sewerage, poormaintenance and pyrite among many direconditions. Tenants spoke of theirfrustration with successive Governments,resulting in a trend of neglect and a failureto progressively realise the rights set outunder the RESC.

Debbie Mulhall, a resident of DolphinHouse Estate, said that breaches oftenants’ social and economic rights hadresulted in a third-class citizenship forsome 130,000 households and theirfamilies – or close to 355,000 peopleacross the country. “Your home and whereyou raise your family is so much more thanjust bricks and mortar. It is the startingplace for so many basic rights essential forlife – the right to health, the right toeducation, the right to work. We are beingdenied these basic rights and being treatedlike third class citizens simply because weare tenants of the state.”

Another tenant, Carol Quinn, spoke aboutthe abandonment of Bluebell Estate for

decades, with tenants left to cope withserious dampness and mould problems.Most children and adults living with damphave asthma and other respiratoryproblems. Despite numerous requests fora proper assessment of the conditions andtheir impact, Carol said the LocalAuthority has never acted upon them.

For FIDH, the complaint is very importanton a European level. “This will potentiallyaffect millions of people living in sub-standard accommodation and sufferingdiscrimination and social exclusionthroughout Europe,” said FIDH vice-president and FLAC Director GeneralNoeline Blackwell, welcoming the news.“We hope that other organisations andsocial movements will be inspired bytoday’s development to use this valuablemechanism to highlight and challengerights violations across the board andenforce human rights at home.”

t More information athttp://bit.ly/CChousingPR

The first ever survey on pro bono legal work in Ireland reveals a strong and growingappetite among the legal professions for providing help to those who cannot afford it.Despite recognition of pro bono as something that lawyers typically do as part of theirwork, this study shows that such work, done for the public good without any ex pecta -tion of payment, needs to be more structured and more visible in legal businesses.PILA’s Rachel Power who conducted the research in December 2014 says PILA hasseen growing enthusiasm from lawyers to get involved in this kind of work and acorresponding increase in awareness from NGOs in seeking to avail of such help.

Some 464 individual solicitors and barristers responded to the survey from all overIreland. Almost three-quarters of those say they have done legal work for free in theircareer with almost 40% doing pro bono work regularly. Most of the legal work beingoffered for free involves legal research, advice or document drafting (62%) followed byproviding legal advice in a clinic (33%) and representation (21%). The survey alsocontains a section on law students, many of whom have already been involved in probono work and the majority of whom (86%) plan to do pro bono work when qualified.

t Read the full survey on both the PILA and FLAC websites.

First ever survey on pro bono work in Ireland published




A report compiled by Nasc,Crosscare Migrant Project,FLAC, Doras Luimni, and Dublin

City Citizens Information Service waslaunched by Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáinat Crosscare’s offices on 20 January 2015.Entitled Person or Number? 2, A SecondExamination of Issues faced by ImmigrantsAccessing Social Protection, the report takesup the issues first visited some four yearsago for the first Person or Number? report.The groups continue to assist migrantswith ongoing issues and challenges inaccessing social protection.

New research and case studies for thisreport were examined in 2014 to evaluatethe situation for migrants acces s ing orattempting to access sup port from thestate via the social welfare system. As partof the research, thirty-five randomlysampled cases of migrants who accessDepartment servi ces were anonymisedand sum marised; the research also com -prised an online survey of thirty-sevenmanagers of state-funded CitizenInformation Services nationally. Bothstudies were analysed in the findingssection of the report.

Overall, the report is critical of how theDepartment of Social Protection dealswith immigrants, identifying key short -comings including:

t Customer service issues in theDepartment of Social Protectionincluding rudeness, inappropriatebehaviour, inappropriate or abusivelanguage and instances of racism.

t Basic administrative procedures, tasksand duties not always being carried outby Deciding Officers and DesignatedPersons, leading to incorrect refusalsof payments.

t The Community Welfare Service inparticular found to have poor servicelevels.

t Interpreters not always being provi dedto people when there is a clear need.

t Omission of key pieces of informa tionby officials in their dealings with thepublic continues to be an issue.

There are nineteen recommendations inthe report which would lead to better

custo mer service, accountability andperform ance:

t the establishment of a Performance,Monitoring, Evaluation and Imple -menta tion Unit in the Department toraise the quality of practice anddecision making at the front line and

t the introduction of name badges forfrontline staff would improvecustomer service, decision making andaccounta bility

t Compulsory training

t Supports for local office staff

t Various targeted measures to tackleracism – including a specific internalDepartmental plan

t Customer views and complaints to beproactively sought

t Community Welfare Service needsspecial attention and needs to operateto same standards

t Administration of Emergency NeedsPayments need to reflect the flexibilityof the law

t Better use of interpreters

t Guidance and monitoring needed onarrears payments

Following the launch, in February a numberof organisations including FLAC wereinvited to present to the Dail Committeeon Public Service Oversight and Petitionson the report and its findings. Joe O’Brien,Policy Officer with the Crosscare MigrantProject, spoke about the deficiencies in theDepart ment and how they impact on notjust on immigrants but on all customers ofthe social welfare system in asserting theirright to access payments.

A key recommendation highlighted wasthe need to address performance issueswithin the Department through a specialdedicated unit and to initiate this processby establishing a working group to assesshow this unit would operate in terms ofbenefits to the quality of customer service.Secondly, the issue of visibility of staffthrough the introduction of name badgesgained a certain level of support frommembers of the Committee.

As a follow on from the presentation, theChair of the Committee Padraig Mac -Lochlainn TD will communicate certainrecom menda tions to the Depart ment ofSocial Protection.

t http://www.flac.ie/publications/report-person-or-number-2/

Second report identifies challenges forimmigrants accessing social protection

Person or Number? (2) launch – Joe O'Brien Crosscare, Karen McHugh Doras Luimni, MinisterAodhan O'Riordain, Fiona Finn Nasc, Yvonne O'Sullivan FLAC


Documents

Flac news janmarch 2015