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Oireachtas justice committee to invite Minister to hearing as courts backlog worsens; Minister insists courts are ‘operating effectively’
Oireachtas justice committee to invite Minister to hearing as courts backlog worsens; Minister insists courts are ‘operating effectively’ Colleen Gildernew said solicitors are 'absolutely determined' to continue the withdrawal of services until the changes sought are made.
Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish TimesAs the District Courts resumed full service last week after the August break, most criminal defence solicitors, particularly in Dublin, seemed determined to continue their withdrawal of services. A minority, including solicitors in Clare and about four solicitors in Cork city, have either resumed work or did not participate in the withdrawal.divisions, impacting accused people, victims of crime, witnesses, gardaí, lawyers, judges and court staff, and adding considerably to existing case backlogs.
Landlord whose tenant caused ‘stress’ to heart attack victim must pay €10,000Data centres in Ireland to get cut-price gas in exchange for possible disruption of supply In Trim District Court on Tuesday, the court list involved about 250 charges and summonses. About half were put back to October 13th due to the dispute, when they would ordinarily have been dealt with on the day.
Another court registrar, who did not wish to be identified, said the high level of adjournments due to the dispute means judges are “speeding” through their lists.
“That’s fine now, but there will be hell down the line. ”data released to The Irish Times showing just 702 legal aid certificates were issued in July under the new scheme – a big drop on the 10,344 certificates issued in the same month last year under the old scheme. The withdrawal has directly affected solicitors’ incomes since June, particularly those of sole practitioners and firms heavily engaged in criminal legal aid work.
Another impact is an increasing number of applications to the High Court for inquiries under Article 40 of the Constitution into the legality of the detention of unrepresented people. These involve legal costs to the State of about €50,000 per case. Between July 10th and August 13th, 73 such applications issued, with about 66 relating to the dispute. During the same period in 2025, 11 applications issued.
The core of the new payment model is one flat fee of €520 per client, irrespective of the number of charges and court appearances. Based on an average five appearances, the €520 fee replaced the previous model of about €239 for the first appearance and €60 for each subsequent appearance.said the old system was changed to ensure an “effective and efficient” system of justice. The old system, he said, encouraged adjournments and facilitated “abuses” of legal aid certificates.
The focus must be on what is in the best interests of court users, he said, and the new system “is serving them best”. Based on hearing reports from around the country and media court reports, the criminal courts are “operating effectively”, he said. Defence solicitors say the new model, as it stands, means they are expected to work for free in difficult and complex cases involving multiple charges and appearances.
They agree the system needs reform but maintain the Minister’s changes were imposed without “meaningful” engagement with the society. They are particularly incensed by suggestions they are responsible for much of the delay in the system, saying many adjournments are down to the State, due to waiting on discovery, books of evidence, DPP directions, and obtaining psychiatric and probation reports.
They want a certificate to be issued per offence committed on separate dates, with a cap of five certificates per defendant, per court, per day. They also want a further certificate once a case exceeds 10 court appearances. Such cases include those involving children and people with mental health issues. The department said this week those changes were incompatible with the reforms because they reintroduced “the possibility of multiple certificates being awarded”.
The Oireachtas justice committee chairman, Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy, said it agreed at a private meeting this week to invite the Minister, legal practitioners and other stakeholders to a hearing later this month concerning the dispute. The committee is “very concerned” about the impact, Carthy told The Irish Times.
“The committee’s view is there is an urgent need for the Minister to engage in urgent and real dialogue with all stakeholders, including legal practitioners. ” The committee has sought, but has yet to receive, data from the department to support claims, in an internal departmental review of District Court cases, that criminal defence solicitors are responsible for multiple case adjournments, he said.
Carthy and other politicians are preparing parliamentary questions concerning the basis for the new model and the impact of the dispute. Solicitor Colleen Gildernew, who was among more than 100 solicitors who walked out of the Courts of Criminal Justice in Dublin this week, said they are “absolutely determined” to continue the withdrawal of services until the changes sought are made.
“We don’t want to work for free. We are in competition with each other on a daily basis but we have been completely unified on this,” she said. We have been months waiting for psychiatric reports – trying to get a psychiatrist who will do a report on legal aid takes months, if not years, in any courtThose most affected are society’s most vulnerable because they require more representation and more court appearances, she said.
“You have somebody who doesn’t speak English, they come to court and the case has to be put back for an interpreter. Or you have somebody who is homeless, maybe can’t get their phone charged and they don’t get the court reminder on their phone and don’t come to court. You have somebody with addiction issues who might not be in court for the first few appearances because they are in treatment.
Then, very sadly, you have a lot of people with mental health problems. ” Gardaí twice sought unsuccessfully to have one of her clients committed under the Mental Health Act and he allegedly went on to commit further offences, she said.
“We have been months waiting for psychiatric reports – trying to get a psychiatrist who will do a report on legal aid takes months, if not years, in any court. ” The case involved 20 court appearances to date and, despite her client being eligible for legal aid, he ultimately had to pay privately for a psychiatric report, said Gildernew.
“We’re like politicians, the taxman, journalists; we’re not the most popular profession. But this is not about us, this is about the representation for the most vulnerable in society who need an adequate and robust criminal defence. That is what they are entitled to under the Constitution.
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