Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has said that the Taoiseach must “urgently intervene” in the escalating criminal legal aid dispute with solicitors and “clear up the mess” created by his Minister for Justice.
The Dublin Central TD was speaking after criminal defence solicitors confirmed they would escalate their withdrawal of legal aid services to almost all cases, including those of people in custody, private cases and cases involving children.
“I have feared for months that this was the direction we were heading and unfortunately it has now come to pass,” Gannon said.
“Minister O’Callaghan’s get-tough approach with solicitors has been a complete disaster and has put our criminal justice system on the verge of collapse. Thousands of cases have been adjourned since he pushed through his changes to the free legal aid payment system in July, adding to existing backlogs in our courts,” he said.
The Social Democrats’ justice spokesperson said “in refusing to engage with solicitors, the minister is needlessly hiding behind the delayed outcome of a judicial review into the new payment scheme, despite a High Court judge in that case urging the parties to try to resolve the issues themselves.”
Gannon said, “instead of using excuses, the minister should be sitting around the table with the Law Society with a view to finding a resolution to this highly damaging dispute.”
It has been reported today that the withdrawal of services by criminal defence solicitors has led to a raft of High Court challenges alleging unlawful detention.
With the legal costs of individual challenges estimated to be between €20,000 and €40,000, Gannon said this has the potential to wipe out any savings the minister was hoping to achieve with his “so-called reforms” of the criminal legal aid system.
“The Minister for Justice has been an impediment to progress. He must now be sidelined to allow for meaningful engagement between the Government and solicitors, with talks led by the Taoiseach if necessary,” he said.