Ongoing legal aid dispute poses 'grave public risk', solicitors warn

The dispute relates to the rollout of the new system in July under which a flat fee of €520 is given for legal aid cases

The Department of Justice says that more than 600 solicitors remain on the Criminal Legal Aid panel, and that “over 625 new criminal legal aid certificates have been issued” since July 1. File picture

Solicitors have warned that the ongoing criminal legal aid dispute will pose a “grave public risk” when the courts resume Tuesday.

Members of the Southern Law Association will gather in Cork this morning to discuss how they will continue their opposition to the flat-fee criminal legal aid scheme implemented since July 1 by justice minister Jim O’Callaghan.

Last Thursday, criminal defence lawyers practising in the Dublin region decided unanimously to continue their withdrawal of services into September. It is expected a similar measure will be agreed by solicitors at the meeting in Cork on Monday.

The ongoing dispute relates to the rollout of the new system in July under which a flat fee of €520 is given, regardless of the number of district court appearances in a case.

Under the previous model, solicitors received approximately €240 for a first appearance, and €60 for each subsequent appearance.

The Department of Justice says that more than 600 solicitors remain on the Criminal Legal Aid panel, and that “over 625 new criminal legal aid certificates have been issued” since July 1.

However, legal sources say that the number of certificates is a small fraction of the number typically issued prior to July 1.

Cork solicitor Shane McCarthy, chairman of the Law Society’s criminal law committee, warned that the backlog of cases building up during the dispute will have a heavy impact on the system when they conclude.

“The backlog of cases will undoubtedly create a situation where people who, when their cases are heard, will not have a prison space for them to be sent to if they are convicted, as the prisons will not simply be able to hold the volumes of people who would normally be going because of the number of cases that will be heard at the same time. That will represent yet a further risk to the public, which will be ongoing in nature.”

He said a letter received by the Law Society in recent days from Mr O’Callaghan in response to two letters sent to his office by the society’s president, Rosemarie Loftus, “did not take cognisance of the concerns of the practitioners in the area” of criminal legal aid.

“They cannot go back to work to a system that will not function.”

Another Cork solicitor, Tom Coughlan, said he has resigned from the criminal legal aid panel in July, following the introduction of the new system.

“There were 86 solicitors on the panel in Cork before July 1. About 50 were in active practice in the area. All either resigned the panel or withdrew services. That has remained the case in July and August. A small number did re-join the panel to process a small number of custody and juvenile cases at the Circuit Criminal court sessions in July to ease of the court and clients in custody and juveniles. That was not an endorsement of the Minister’s new scheme.”

A Department of Justice spokesman said there has been “ongoing engagement since October 2025” between officials in the Department of Justice, Mr O’Callaghan, and the Law Society and Bar Council in relation to the changes to the criminal legal aid fee structure.

“Minister O’Callaghan is committed to improving efficiencies for court users, legal practitioners, and the Irish taxpayer. The new district court criminal legal aid scheme will allow for those efficiencies,” a statement read.