Minister for Justice “in denial” as legal aid row rumbles on, says Gannon

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has said that Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan “continues to be in denial” about the ongoing row over legal aid payments.

In June, Minister O’Callaghan proposed a change to how much legal professionals are paid.

Under his proposals, a flat-fee payment model for District Court cases.

No matter how much work is entailed, or how many appearances in court are required, solicitors would only be paid €455 for their work.

This has led to walkouts and industrial action by legal professionals, with no signs of the row being sorted anytime soon.

Minister O’Callaghan’s attitude during the row has been criticised by Gannon, who serves as the Soc Dems’ spokesperson on justice issues.

“As the District Courts resume after the summer break, it is clear that this dispute has now escalated to a full-blown emergency,” he said.

Figures released by the Court Service show that just 702 legal aid certificates were issued in July under the minister’s new scheme.

Gannon called the statistics “staggering,” marking a 90% drop in the same month in 2025.

“The chaos in our courts is a crisis of Minister O’Callaghan’s own making. His insistence on bulldozing through changes to the legal aid payment structure has seen solicitors leave the scheme in their droves,” Gannon said.

“This has resulted in a wave of adjournments, delaying outcomes for victims of crime and denying accused persons the right to legal representation – a central tenet of our criminal justice system,” he explained.

“Despite the mass exodus of solicitors from the criminal legal aid panel, the minister seems oblivious to the crisis and continues to spin the line that everything is fine. When is he going to wake up to the reality that his failure to meaningfully engage with solicitors has brought our criminal legal system to its knees?”

Gannon said that Minister O’Callaghan’s relationship with solicitors is at an “all-time low” and that Ireland’s District Courts are in a “state of paralysis.”

“It is now incumbent on the Taoiseach to directly intervene and find a workable resolution to this dispute,” Gannon stated.