People on low incomes are waiting up to 13 months for appointments with solicitors in the State's law centres, new figures show.
The campaigning organisation, the Free Legal Aid Centre (FLAC), yesterday called for urgent action to address "alarming" delays which are denying hundreds of people access to justice.
However, the head of the Legal Aid Board which runs the law centres is predicting that the impact of budget cuts and more generous qualifying means tests will lead to a further increase in waiting times this year.
The board provides low-cost legal aid and advice in civil cases, including family and marital disputes and domestic violence complaints, for people on modest incomes, who are means-tested.
Its latest figures show that in almost a third of the State's 30 law centres, clients faced waiting times of at least seven months for an initial appointment with a solicitor last April.
Wicklow law centre had the longest waiting time, of 13 months, with waits of 10 months in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, 9½ months in Brunswick Street in Dublin and eight months in the two centres in Cork. The average waiting time was almost five months.
FLAC, which also provides legal services to disadvantaged people, claims those on low incomes who cannot afford their own solicitors are "effectively being denied the fundamental right of access to the courts".
"Families already on the poverty line may have their circumstances severely worsened by the long wait," said its executive director, Ms Catherine Hickey.
The government cut the Legal Aid Board's budget from €17.6 million last year to €17.07 million this year, around €2 million less than the organisation had sought from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
The board's director of legal aid, Mr Frank Brady, said this year's funding was disappointing and had led to delays in recruiting staff to fill vacancies.
"It's fair to say that waiting times are probably going to increase by another month or two on average and hopefully stabilise before reducing by the end of this year into next year," he said.
He said the backlog in the Wicklow law centre was particularly unsatisfactory, but had been due to illness of a staff member who recently died.