Limerick TD tells Justice Minister resolution is matter of urgency
The Government should establish a public defenders office to avoid further disruption to the criminal justice system from the solicitors’ strike over legal aid fees, Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea has said.
Mr O’Dea, who is a barrister, wrote to his party colleague, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan, to ask him to consider the proposal “as a matter of urgency”.
Solicitors are protesting against a new payment system introduced in July that provides a €520 flat fee for legal aid representation in criminal cases in the district court, regardless of the number of court appearances involved.
On Tuesday, more than 100 criminal defence solicitors walked out of the district courts in Dublin, marking their continued protest at the reforms.
Limerick City TD Mr O’Dea told Mr O’Callaghan: “Every defendant would have a defined lawyer from the outset. There would be proper case management, supervision and standardised processes.”
He said it was a “long-term solution” to the issue, which he will raise with the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party when the Dáil resumes.
A criminal legal aid review committee chaired by Judge Gerard Buchanan recommended in 2002 that the existing system for providing criminal legal aid was the “most equitable, effective and economic” at the time, rather than introducing a public defender system.
“Time has moved on, and the situation is radically different now and, therefore, I believe we need a new approach,” Mr O’Dea said. “This would help to avoid unnecessary adjournments and place a lower burden on taxpayers than the current system.”
Mr O’Dea said the public defender system works in other countries, and he expected fewer adjournments if the defence received a salary from the State, rather than being paid per appearance.
The State spent €34m on criminal legal aid in 2024, up from €19m in 2015.
The 2020 Programme for Government committed to “independently examine the option of a dedicated system of public defenders”.
Former justice minister Helen McEntee said at the end of 2021 that a tender for the independent review would be published in 2022, but no outcome of the review has been made public.
Legal sources taking part in the strike have said a public defender system would not be cost-effective in Ireland, given the amount of on-call, out-of-hours work and prison visits carried out by solicitors in the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.
The Law Society, which advocates for solicitors, has said the minister’s changes to the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme are “flawed”.
Mr O’Callaghan agreed to split the new flat fee into two payments, after a meeting with Law Society representatives in July.
However, the body, and several solicitors who provide criminal legal aid defence, continue to oppose the new system, saying they are being paid only one fee if an accused has multiple cases against them because they are commenced on the same date.
They have also opposed the €520 flat fee for complex cases where the accused is a minor or vulnerable person, and cases that face an increased number of adjournments or prolonged periods in the courts while psychiatric reports are awaited.