![\"justice-minister-jim-ocallaghan-speaking-to-the-media-at-fianna-fails-annual-think-in-at-tullamore-court-hotel-in-tullamore-co-offaly-picture-date-monday-september-7-2026\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788952093_759_.JPEG\")
\n Jim O’Callaghan said last week that the courts were operating effectively amid the ongoing strike. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
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LAST UPDATE
\n |
\n 1 hr ago\n <\/p>\n
THE LAW SOCIETY has asked the minister for justice to consider appointing an independent mediator to resolve the criminal legal aid dispute.<\/p>\n
The president of the Law Society told Jim O\u2019Callaghan she was \u201chugely concerned\u201d at the impact of the ongoing dispute on victims, those accused of crime, the public and all court users.<\/p>\n
Speaking at government buildings today, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin was asked if he believed appointing a mediator is the most effective way to resolve the ongoing dispute.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I think direct engagement is always the best,\u201d Martin responded.<\/p>\n
He pointed to meetings between O\u2019Callaghan and the Law Society, stating that the minister had \u201calways indicated his readiness to engage\u201d.<\/p>\n
Martin also stressed the government\u2019s responsibility to introduce and implement reforms, saying it must ensure public resources are used \u201cin the best and most efficient\u201d way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe public expect that of us, in terms of the best and the most efficient use of resources. And we can\u2019t lose sight of that requirement and obligation of government\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n
T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris said there is \u201cclearly a difference of views\u201d in how reform of criminal legal aid should happen.<\/p>\n
He said it was not for him to \u201cdecide what the best process to put in place is\u201d, but added: \u201cIt\u2019s clear that any dispute or disagreement ends in engagement, and I think it\u2019s in everybody\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know the minister shared this view that the dispute is brought to an end as quickly as possible.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u2018Profound impact on administration of justice\u2019<\/p>\n
A large number of solicitors on the criminal legal aid panel have withdrawn their services amid the dispute, leading to disruption in the district courts.<\/p>\n
In a letter on Tuesday seen by the Press Association, Rosemarie Loftus cited Court Service figures which show a 93% reduction in the granting of legal aid certificates in July 2026 compared to the same month last year.<\/p>\n
She described this as a \u201cdeeply worrying\u201d collapse, as she told the minister she was \u201cparticularly disappointed\u201d his recent moves on the dispute had not \u201cin any way\u201d altered the \u201cfundamental issues that remain at the heart of the current dispute\u201d.<\/p>\n
In July, O\u2019Callaghan introduced a single flat fee for solicitors taking on legal aid cases \u2013 replacing a system where they had been paid per appearance.<\/p>\n
\n Jim O’Callaghan said last week that the courts were operating effectively amid the ongoing strike. Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
The Law Society said it \u201cremains committed to engaging constructively\u201d in seeking a \u201csustainable criminal legal aid system\u201d.<\/p>\n
Loftus said \u201cthe current impasse is having a profound impact on the administration of justice\u201d across the country.<\/p>\n
She said she was \u201csurprised\u201d to hear O\u2019Callaghan say last week that the criminal courts were running \u201ceffectively\u201d.<\/p>\n
In the letter, she said: \u201cIn fact, I am hugely concerned at the impact the current dispute is having on victims of crime, those accused of crime, the general public and all courts users.<\/p>\n
\u201cI met with a number of victim support groups in recent weeks and committed to doing whatever I could do to expedite finding a solution to the current impasse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Loftus said she believes there is \u201cmerit in considering the appointment of an independent mediator\u201d to assist parties in finding a resolution.<\/p>\n
An experienced independent mediator could help bridge the gap between your policy objectives and the practical realities experienced by practitioners on the ground.<\/p>\n
Loftus said the two main outstanding issues relate to the treatment of separate and distinct criminal cases as a single matter where they happen to come before the court on the same day; and the absence of a practical mechanism to deal with exceptional cases that often concern children and those with mental health issues, which can involve unusually high numbers of court appearances over an extended period<\/p>\n
She said the current arrangements appear to treat multiple separate matters involving the same defendant as a single case for purposes of Legal Aid just because they come before the court on the same day, while saying these are frequently separate and distinct complex criminal cases which require separate instructions, preparation and consultations.<\/p>\n
She suggested: \u201cIt seems that a clearer and mutual understanding of the definition of a case and of intended practical procedures may assist considerably in resolving this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the second matter, the Law Society also said \u201ca limited and carefully constructed mechanism\u201d for exceptional cases is both \u201creasonable and necessary\u201d.<\/p>\n
In closing, Loftus urged the minister to \u201cavoid a repeat of what has happened\u201d under the Civil Legal Aid scheme \u201cwhere a similar model was introduced.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said \u201cthe number of solicitors working under the District Court Family Law panel has fallen by more than 60% over the past decade\u201d and added: \u201cIt is critical that the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme does not go the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago THE LAW SOCIETY has asked the minister for justice to consider appointing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":619228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[54,256249,61,60,30379,43],"class_list":["post-619227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-courts","tag-criminal-legal-aid","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jim-o","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619227","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=619227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/619227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=619227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=619227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=619227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}