Access to justice is a basic human right, however in order to achieve equality of access, there must be a balance of power on both sides.  In a legal context, the balance of power almost always rests with those who can afford counsel.  Redressing this balance requires the availability of free and low-cost legal services to those who need the advice of a qualified solicitor or barrister but who cannot afford the costs associated with it.    

Has the fall in long-term unemployment numbers plateaued? If so, a more targeted approach may be required to get us back to the low levels of the 2000s.

The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 came into force today, March 4th 2019. This piece of legislation has as its objectives the provision 'for a requirement that employers provide employees with certain terms of employment within a certain period after commencing employment; to impose sanction for certain offences; to further provide for a minimum payment due to the employees in certain circumstances; to prohibit contracts specifying zero as the contract hours in certain circumstances and to provide for the introduction of banded contract hours; to further provide for prohibition of penalisation and for those purposes to amend certain other pieces of employment law'.

Social Justice Ireland welcomes the publication of ‘A Better World: Ireland’s Policy for International Development’, which outlines the Government’s commitment to reaching the UN target of allocating 0.7% of our GNI to official development assistance by 2030.  The reiteration of the commitment to Ireland’s ODA target is welcome, and Government is to be commended for setting a date by which it will meet this target.