MORE than 2,200 people are on waiting lists for free legal representation from solicitors and barristers - almost double the number waiting two years ago.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern has admitted free legal aid services are unable to deliver services at an acceptable level due to increased demand and a recruitment freeze in the public service.

Mr Ahern admitted the problems are acute in some areas, with applicants to at least three of the 33 centres around the country waiting more than six months.

These centres include Co Tipperary which has a waiting list of seven months, Co Wicklow where people have to wait more than eight months and Co Wexford where waiting times are nine months.

In a written response to a Dáil question, Mr Ahern said: "The Legal Aid Board's capacity to maintain frontline services at an acceptable level is under pressure."

He said: "The geographically dispersed nature of the legal aid service means the scope for redeployment of staff resources is extremely limited."

As a result "there are a number of locations where there are acute service delivery problems".

He said while "the primary driving force behind increased waiting times and numbers is the increase in demand for legal services, the moratorium in the filling of staff vacancies also means that the board must devise new and innovative ways of ensuring it can meet the demands placed upon it in the current challenging environment".

Last month, the Irish Examiner revealed that 300 people have been waiting seven months for a solicitor at Cork's South Mall office, in Co Wicklow about 100 people have been waiting for seven months, in Wexford more than 200 have been waiting for the same time. In six other centres hundreds are waiting for five months or more.

In 2005, a High Court decision found that a client should have to wait no longer than two to four months to get an appointment with a solicitor at the Legal Aid Board. In the case, O'Donoghue versus The Legal Aid Board, Ms O'Donoghue had been waiting 25 months to get an appointment with a solicitor at the Legal Aid Board.

Following this, waiting lists in most cases were reduced and decreased consistently since 2005. However, they have crept back up in the past year