Solicitors continue prostest over fees

Solicitors of Nenagh District Court are continuing their strike over the proposed changes to legal aid payments that are due to come into place in July.

These changes have previously been described as “unfair, unworkable, and undermine access to Justice” on behalf of solicitors in Nenagh District Court.

As explained by Nenagh District Court Solicitor, Ian McNamara, solicitors have previously been paid €260, followed by a payment of €60 per appearance in court. The new system will consist of one payment. This Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan, has increased the proposed flat fee for criminal legal aid solicitors in the district court to €520 from the original proposal of €455.

Speaking to the Nenagh Guardian when the solicitors first went on strike, Mr McNamara said: “The one size fits all... the most vulnerable members of society, such as those in custody or juveniles, that require a sizeable amount of attendances in court, the one payment puts a limit on the amount of legal aid services that we can provide to any one person.”

The Department of Justice has said that “it is regrettable that some practitioners are taking this course of action” and that the proposed reforms were aimed at “improving efficiencies, speeding up case resolution, and reducing unnecessary adjournements”.

The department stated that the reform of the criminal legal aid fee structure will not affect the ability of legal professionals to engage in criminal legal aid work.

The Law Society of Ireland has strongly rejected the criminal legal aid flat free proposal that has been put forward by the Department of Justice.