Comhlámh is the Irish association for international development workers and volunteers, a membership open to anyone interested in social justice, human rights and global development issues. Comhlámh support volunteers and their family members to assimilate back into Irish society often times after prolonged periods of volunteering overseas.
Historically, volunteer development workers (and their families) have been exempt from the residency requirement for student grants and free fees under the Department of Education’s free fee initiative. A shift in policy meant that Comhlámh required legal clarification on the application of the student grants scheme and free fees initiative and how it affected its members. Comhlámh contacted PILA for assistance. Having established there was a public interest element to the query and that the organisation did not have the resources or capacity internally to examine the legal implications of the policy changes, PILA sought assistance through the Pro Bono Referral Scheme. A&L Goodbody, a long-time supporter of the referral scheme, were keen to assist.
Speaking about the impact of the advices on their work, Dervla King commented, “we were delighted to be able to avail of A&L Goodbody’s expertise: they provided us with an extremely comprehensive assessment of the decision to withdraw the residency requirement exemption previously in place for volunteer development workers and their families. This included the identification of several possible avenues of redress. We are currently in discussion with an individual affected by the decision to decide on the most appropriate next steps, as informed by the advices. Comhlámh is hugely grateful to A&L Goodbody, and also to PILA for putting us in contact and providing such an excellent service”.
Yurishan Lowry, a member of the team assisting Comhlámh said, "we were very happy to come on board to provide Comhlámh with an assessment of the decision to withdraw the residency requirement exemption previously afforded to returning oversees volunteer workers (and their family members). Our assessment included tracing back through various Acts and Circulars issued over the years in respect of educational assistance for volunteer workers. As well as advising on the legal implications, it was very important to us to provide as much practical assistance as possible to Comhlámh, an organisation whose work is essential in supporting volunteer development workers who have spent many years supporting others in countries throughout the world. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Comhlámh in this interesting and multi-faceted matter".
To find out the various ways in which your organisation can access pro bono legal support please contact the PILA Project Officer, Eamonn Tansey at Eamonn.tansey@flac.ie or 01-8873629.