Justice Minister says he will meet Law Society amid legal aid fee row

The Justice Minister has said he will meet with the Law Society of Ireland amid an ongoing row over legal aid fees which has led to a withdrawal of service by criminal defence solicitors.

Jim O’Callaghan, a barrister, has faced criticism from solicitors for reforms which implemented a flat fee for their work with criminal legal aid clients regardless of how many appearances were involved in the case.

On Wednesday, solicitors in Dublin began a two-day stoppage across courts in the city and up to 200 across the country have indicated they would resign from the legal aid panel in protest.

The dispute has led to concerns about the growing backlog of cases.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland Jim O’Callaghan said: “It’s been presented as though I’m intransigent and won’t meet.

“I engaged with the Law Society. I met them in May.

“My officials met them in January, March, and June of this year.”

He added that he received his first request to meet with the professional body, since the introduction of the new regulations on July 1, on Wednesday night.

“I will meet with them, I have no difficulty meeting with them, and I’m sure there are some areas in terms of where they can make points to me that I will accept and engage with,” he added.

Asked about claims the organisation had written to him in June seeking “meaningful engagement”, Mr O’Callaghan reiterated that he has had “no communication” from the organisation about the new regulations since they were introduced.

“In fairness to me, and it’s not about me,” he added, “if they don’t ask me to meet them, it’s difficult for me to say I have to come meet them and they need to be able to say what method they want to change within the system.”

He said he would look at issues such as when payments are made, but said “what I won’t do is I’m not going to go back to the old system”.

Mr O’Callaghan maintains research carried out by his department shows legal aid cases take longer and need more appearances than non-funded cases.

While others have said legal-aid cases are often more complex and involve people who need additional support.

Mr O’Callaghan said the introduction of the flat fee will “reduce the incentive to seek or to agree to adjournments”.

However, he did also acknowledge that the State “in many instances” is the cause of applications for adjournments.

He said the changes are needed as the amount spent on the criminal legal aid system in the district court has more than doubled to 40 million euro a year in the last decade.

In a statement the Law Society said since meeting with the Minister for Justice on May 29 they have held two meetings with his officials.

“The Law Society requested further engagement, in order to discuss and try to resolve the issue,” the statement continued.

“The Law Society has also issued public statements saying it was available to meet at any time.

“These statements have been reported in the media.”