'That's not going to happen': Minister warns solicitor strike over legal aid will not lead to U-turn

Justice minister Jim O'Callaghan said he was 'struck' by a recent court case in which a Kerry man appeared in court 'charged with a very minor offence from the day of the All-Ireland final in 2023'.

Jim O’Callaghan has warned solicitors that their strikes over changes to the legal aid system will not result in political pressure being put on him to scrap the reforms.

“That's not going to happen,” the justice minister said.

Criminal solicitors have withdrawn their services from the legal aid system since July 1 over Mr O’Callaghan’s changes to the pay structures that introduced a “one accused, one fee system.”

This sees solicitors paid a flat fee of €520 per client, regardless of how many court appearances there are or how long the cases take.

The old system saw solicitors receive €240 per defendant for the first two cases, €144 for each additional case on the first day, and €60 for each subsequent hearing day.

Some 55 solicitors have resigned from the legal aid panel, with many more withdrawing their services from the district courts.

Speaking on Monday morning, Mr O’Callaghan once again insisted that he would not be rowing back on the changes.

“I think part of what's happening at present is that some solicitors think that if they put enough pressure on the system to disrupt cases, that this is going to result in political pressure on me, and I'm going to revoke the regulations,” he suggested.

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“That's not going to happen. However, like any new scheme that's introduced, I will keep it under close review.

“If it needs to be tweaked, and it appears that changes need to be made in the future, I will certainly give consideration to that.”

Mr O’Callaghan said he was “struck” by a recent court case in which a Kerry man appeared in court “charged with a very minor offence from the day of the All-Ireland final in 2023”.

He said it was “unacceptable” that it took three years for that case to be heard.

• Louise Burne, political correspondent