Solicitor involved in free legal aid dispute asks for €400,000 drugs case to be struck out due to delays

Solicitor told court minister for justice said solicitors were not pressing strongly enough to have delayed cases struck out

Charges against accused include having cocaine for sale or supply at Churchfield Road, Cork, and laundering over €25,000 in cash.

A solicitor involved in the free legal aid dispute applied to have a €400,000 drugs case struck out because of the State’s delay and said in court the minister for justice said solicitors were not pressing strongly enough to have delayed cases struck out.

Frank Buttimer, solicitor, said on behalf of 40-year-old Paul Healy, of Castlering, Knockbridge, Dundalk, Co Louth, at Cork District Court this was the accused man’s sixth or seventh appearance, and he was asking for it to be struck out because DPP’s instructions were not forthcoming.

Mr Buttimer said he was not criticising An Garda Síochána but instructions from the DPP “could be dealt with by a phone call". 

The solicitor said when solicitors raised the issue in the free legal aid dispute with justice minister Jim O’Callaghan, in some cases multiple adjournments were due to State delays, and the absence of DPP directions, the minister told them they should press more strongly for cases to be struck out in the event of a delay. So Mr Buttimer said that was precisely what he was doing in this case.

Sergeant Gearóid Davis said he was aware of comments from the minister about “the average case” requiring no more than five adjournments. 

However, the sergeant said of this €400,000 drugs investigation: “This is not the average case.” He said a large amount of suspected drugs had to be forensically examined and this and suspected money-laundering had to be investigated.

Judge David Waters said rather than waiting for directions on where the case should be heard — district or circuit court — he was refusing jurisdiction so that was now out of the way.

In relation to delays in forensic analysis of drugs, the judge said everyone was aware of the bottleneck of drugs cases held up because of delays in forensic analysis. He said this could be solved “at the stroke of a pen” by the appointment of one or two more forensic scientists.

Judge Waters said he would not strike out the Paul Healy case where the charges relate to June 2, 2026, but this did not mean he would not strike it out at a future stage if it became necessary.

Paul Healy was remanded in custody until September 30 at Cork District Court. Charges against him include having cocaine for sale or supply at Churchfield Road, Cork, and laundering over €25,000 in cash.

In terms of the Cork City part of the strike by solicitors nationally in relation to free legal aid, it now appears some Cork solicitors may not be providing services at this moment, some are operating to a limited degree, and others appear to have returned to working in a full capacity under the new free legal aid scheme.