{"id":606986,"date":"2026-08-28T07:02:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T07:02:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/606986\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T07:02:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T07:02:14","slug":"dublin-solicitors-to-continue-withdrawal-of-services-as-courts-prepare-to-return-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/606986\/","title":{"rendered":"Dublin solicitors to continue withdrawal of services as courts prepare to return \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dublin-based criminal defence solicitors have unanimously agreed to continue their withdrawal of services next month, in advance of the resumption of court activity.<\/p>\n

More than 100 lawyers, who represent all but two firms in the capital, met on Thursday and agreed to extend their withdrawal due to an \u201congoing impasse\u201d<\/a> over the new fee structure for criminal legal aid introduced in July.<\/p>\n

Just two firms engaged in criminal legal-aid work are believed to have continued to work in the capital during the dispute.<\/p>\n

The District Courts are due to return from summer recess next month.<\/p>\n

Those engaged in the dispute will not be available to represent clients on the legal-aid scheme in the District Courts or at Garda stations.<\/p>\n

In a statement, a spokesperson for the solicitors said the fee structure \u201cimposed\u201d by Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan<\/a> was introduced \u201cwithout any meaningful negotiations\u201d.<\/p>\n

The new payment model brought in on July 1st provides for a single flat fee of \u20ac520 regardless of the number of District Court appearances. It replaced the previous model of about \u20ac239 for a first appearance and \u20ac60 for each subsequent appearance.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Callaghan previously said data from his department suggested the former approach \u201cencourages adjournments\u201d, adding that the changes included a \u201cvery fair fee\u201d.<\/p>\n

Solicitors, however, have argued the fee does not reflect the amount of work involved.<\/p>\n

Meetings were held late last month to consider proposals from the Minister to amend aspects of the new payment model, though these included maintaining the single flat fee.<\/p>\n

\"AA spokesperson for the solicitors said the new fee structure ‘imposed’ by Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan (pictured) was introduced ‘without any meaningful negotiations’. Photograph: Sam Boal\/Collins <\/p>\n

Solicitor Tony Collier said those withdrawing their services \u201cwant to be back in the courts doing our job, representing clients who require legal aid and ensuring the administration of justice\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we have reluctantly decided to continue our withdrawal of services into September, as the Minister for Justice is refusing to engage meaningfully with us or our representative body.\u201d <\/p>\n

Michael Finucane, another solicitor, added that \u201cclear and reasonable\u201d proposals had been made<\/a> by solicitors that could resolve the dispute.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge the Minister to return to the table and engage with us with a view to a speedy resolution of this matter, so that the criminal justice system can start to function properly again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The new payment model is currently the subject of judicial review proceedings lodged by Dublin-based solicitor John Quinn at the High Court.<\/p>\n

The withdrawal is having a significant impact in Dublin, Cork and Limerick and has led to the adjournment of thousands of criminal cases, affecting accused people, witnesses, victims, prosecuting garda\u00ed and the management of court lists.<\/p>\n

In response, the Department of Justice said there had been ongoing engagement since October between the Minister and officials, and the Law Society and Bar Council in relation to the changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinister O\u2019Callaghan is committed to improving efficiencies for court users, legal practitioners and the Irish taxpayer. The new District Court Criminal Legal Aid Scheme will allow for those efficiencies,\u201d it said in a statement. <\/p>\n

It said the new fee of \u20ac520 was equivalent to the payment for five court appearances in a case under the old system, and that the revised structure would remain under review. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dublin-based criminal defence solicitors have unanimously agreed to continue their withdrawal of services next month, in advance of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5721,61,60,18573,43],"class_list":["post-606986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-district-court","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jim-ocallaghan","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=606986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}