Legal aid: why the €8000 accommodation limit?

My certifiable mortgage payment is almost €1600 per month. However, to be eligible for legal aid they will only take into account €8000 accommodation cost per annum. Because of the €8000 cap on accommodation, I am above the €18000 net income that would make me eligible for legal aid. In reality, because my verifiable mortgage payment is €19000 per annum, my net income is significantly less than that €18000 due to the mortgage.

It's not like I can just stop paying the mortgage. Why is the legislation, and thus the Legal Aid Board, so firm on this? (And how on earth could Seán Fitzpatrick and so many others like him get free legal aid? https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/sean-fitzpatrick-granted-legal-aid-for-upcoming-trial-1.1924222)

awsah

Legal aid applications take earnings and assets into account so the fact you own your own house would disqualify your from Legal aid payments is most circumstances. You could have your solicitor argue for you in court and see if the judge permits it in your specific case

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118363496#Comment_118363496

• I don't think any of this is accurate in a civil law family case. The Legal Aid Board seek "Approximate values of all of your capital assets except the house you live in" so home ownership is not taken into account when seeking that type of civil legal aid (https://www.legalaidboard.ie/en/our-services/legal-aid-services/apply-for-legal-aid-online/). The fact that they took into account €8000 of my mortgage payment confirms this.
• Second, on the news when the judges award legal aid, that is for criminal legal aid. I rang the LAB and they said you cannot go to a judge to seek legal aid for a civil law case. I wish that were not true but that's what I've just been told. The only way to appeal is via their appeals' process, which makes it clear that in any appeal they cannot make any allowances above the €8,000 accommodation allowance.

timmymagoo

It is near impossible get civil legal aid and even than the rates are very low and the workload usually can be large that most solicitors are not registered for it0

Criminal legal aid is different and depends on whether you are working, the seriousness of the issue and type of offence

Rates for all legal aid are very poor given the workload and more and more firms are not bothering with it

Donald Trump

Civil legal aid? You need to have a disposable income of less than 18k. Not an income of less than 18k.

You need to have disposable capital of less than 100k

However the Legal Aid Board has discretion to grant legal aid even if the above are not satisfied in certain circumstances (you'd need to ask them about this)

But you also need for your issue to satisfy the merits test.