The waiting times for accessing civil legal aid services has been significantly reduced, it was announced today.
The Legal Aid Board confirmed the number of people waiting for its services stood at just under 1,000 at the end of December compared with 2,200 in the same month in 2004.
In 2006, about 9,000 people sought legal aid services from its 30 law centres around the country, compared with 8,300 in 2005.
The board said the increase was the result of an ease in access due to the reduction in the amount of time people spent on the list waiting and an increase in the means test limits which took place in September 2006.
Moling Ryan, chief executive of the board, said: "The additional resources provided to the board by the Government have enabled the board to provide a professional and timely service to persons who rely on the State to obtain legal advice and representation in court.
"This is a major factor in providing access to justice for the less well off in society. At the end of the year, persons seeking services in 25 of the Board's 30 law centres were waiting for two months or less."
The majority of cases were in the area of family law.
About a quarter of people applying for legal services are given a priority service and are not placed on a waiting list. Other applicants are given the services within a maximum period of four months.
The preliminary figures for the Refugee Legal Service (RLS) show it provided services to 3,000 new asylum seekers last year. The represented around 70per cent of the number of people applying for asylum in Ireland in 2006.