The independent organisation offering free legal advice to those who cannot afford it, has said the demand for its services last year outstripped its resources.
FLAC says there were more than 13,000 calls to its telephone information line but many more callers could not get through.
The organisation says there is a crisis around people’s ability to access justice, particularly in relation to family law and employment matters.
FLAC Chief Executive Eilis Barry said there is an ongoing crisis of unmet legal need.
FLAC received 13,147 calls to its information line last year, the highest number since 2015.
But, Ms Barry said these figures were just the tip of the iceberg as FLAC cannot answer every call. She said they were concerned that significantly more people were unable to get through. And she said there had to be a better way to provide services enabling access to justice.
Almost a third of the queries related to family law matters. Ms Barry said people were already stressed by the time they got through and many were narrowly over the legal aid means test, currently set at an annual income of 18,000.
In one case, she said, a caller was over the threshold by 500 and was already facing legal costs of more than 20,000 in a family law matter.
The second highest number of queries related to employment law. Ms Barry said FLAC had nowhere to refer these callers as there was no legal aid for employment and discrimination claims before the Workplace Relations Commission.
She said...
In 2025, U.K. insurers found fewer bogus claims than in 2024, but the cases they intercepted tended to involve more money. According to The Independent, insurers stopped 1.34 billion (about $1.77 ...