Family Mediation Services – Donegal

* 367.

To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she is aware of the issues facing the Letterkenny office of the Family Mediation Service, where no mediator is in place and no service is being provided, and with 27 couples on the waiting list; the inequity of service being provided across the country as a result of management decisions regarding mediator contracts; and if she will make a statement on the matter.

– Thomas Pringle

REPLY.
I wish to advise the Deputies that the Family Mediation Service falls under the auspices of the Legal Aid Board which is independent in the exercise of its functions, in accordance with Section 3 (3) of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995. Furthermore, as Minister for Justice and Equality, I am not responsible or accountable to the Dáil for the matters referred to in the Deputies’ questions. However, in order to be helpful to the Deputies I have had enquiries made of the Board and I have been informed that there is no permanently employed mediator in the Letterkenny office at present. A contract mediator completed her cases during the month of March and another contract mediator commenced taking cases in the office on 13 April 2015.

The Board is subject to the recruitment moratorium and the Employee Control Framework, however I am informed that they are looking at a longer term strategy for providing mediation services, including the manner in which contract mediators are engaged.

The number of couples on the waiting list in Letterkenny family mediation office is currently 17. The following figures show the numbers on the waiting list in Letterkenny at the beginning of January 2011 to 2015:

2011 16
2012 8
2013 7
2014 17
2015 20

For comparison, the current waiting lists in the Letterkenny office and other part-time single mediator offices are as follows:

Letterkenny 17
Sligo 11
Castlebar 13
Portlaoise 16
Athlone 21
Waterford 29
Tralee 10

Finally, I have been advised by the Board that waiting list numbers fluctuate and the needs of each office is reviewed on an ongoing basis. The Legal Aid Board is committed to the provision of a timely and professional mediation service throughout the country.

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