Social Democrats TD and justice spokesperson Gary Gannon has said legal action by legal aid solicitors is a mess of the Minister for Justice’s making.
Last week, legal aid solicitors took part in a two-day work stoppage in protest at the new legal aid payment model for District Courts.
Minister Jim O’Callaghan introduced a new flat fee for legal professionals on July 1.
Under existing rules, solicitors were paid for each court appearance, starting at €240 and then €60 for each subsequent hearing.
The Minister’s new rules establish a set fee of €520, regardless of how many court appearances a legal professional made in a given day.
On Wednesday (July 22), 50 cases in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court were adjourned after criminal defence solicitors withdrew their services.
July has seen intermittent industrial action by solicitors, leading to some defendants opting to represent themselves in court.
Criminal defence solicitors withdraw services at Criminal Courts of Justice
Minister O’Callaghan called the stoppage “deeply regrettable” but was bullish in making sure his reforms become permanent within the Irish legal system.
The Minister claimed that the industrial action will “result in the unnecessary adjournment of court proceedings which will negatively impact on any person who finds themselves in contact with the criminal justice system”.
Gannon dubbed the Minister’s remarks as “tone-deaf” and “obstuse.”
The Dublin Central TD said that the Minister is not taking responsibility for his “disastrous handling of this fiasco that has led us to this point” and claimed that the criminal courts are on “the verge of collapse.”
“The Minister’s insistence on ramming through reforms of the criminal legal aid scheme without bothering to engage with criminal legal aid solicitors who deliver that essential service is extraordinary and deeply damaging,” he said.
“The Minister believes that, when it comes to introducing reforms, it is his way or the highway and is now apparently confused that many solicitors are choosing the highway.
The rationale behind the reforms stems from Minister O’Callaghan wishing to clear the backlog within the Irish legal system, but Gannon said his approach was missing the forest for the trees
“Rather than investigating the cause in a comprehensive and fair way, has simply lumped all the blame on solicitors,” Gannon said.
“There is no evidence to support this, no rationale for the changes that have now been railroaded through and very little comprehension by the Minister or his Department of the very significant threat to the criminal justice system they have unleashed.”
Gannon stated, “this is a crisis of the Minister’s own making, and it is up to him to resolve it. He must pause the changes to the criminal legal aid scheme and do what is inevitable – engage with solicitors before any more damage is done.”