Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has said he will be looking to see whether he can increase the new set fee of €455 for solicitors for criminal legal aid work.
The legal system has ground to a halt in recent days as thousands of District Court cases have been adjourned after criminal defence solicitors withdrew their services in protest at proposed changes to how they are paid.
Currently, a solicitor is paid for each court appearance, starting at €239.38, and then €59.86 for each subsequent hearing.
From 1 July, a new set fee of €455 will be payable regardless of how many court appearances there are – removing the link between payments and the number of appearances for solicitors.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week programme, Mr O’Callaghan said the new fee will still come into effect on Wednesday but he will look to see whether he can increase it.
Criminal defence solicitors have withdrawn their services in protest at proposed changes to how they are paid
“I’m in discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Minister [for Public Expenditure] Jack Chambers. I can’t make decisions like this on my own. I very much recognise and acknowledge the important role played by [the] legal profession,” Mr O’Callaghan.
“I will be looking to see whether I can increase the €455 I have proposed initially,” he said.
“I’m trying to get it up from €455,” he added.
Mr O’Callaghan said there are currently inefficiencies and abuses of the current system and he had to change it.
Earlier in the week, representatives of legal and human rights organisations expressed their opposition to what the Law Society says is an effective 20% cut to criminal legal aid.
President of the Law Society, Rosemary Loftus, said it was “hard to overstate” the level of anger among solicitors about the proposals.
She said it was “deeply alarming” that the Government was proposing a 20% cut to criminal legal aid while imposing a model which she said had “demonstrably failed” in the family law area.
She said the Government was implementing this proposal on the basis of anecdote and hearsay which she said was an insult to the legal profession and the public.
She said it should be grounded in rigorous analysis and systematic evidence.
Ms Loftus said the new proposal would make criminal legal aid practice financially unsustainable for many solicitors and she claimed it would trigger an exodus from the scheme.