Local solicitors share ’devastating’ impact of new legal aid scheme with Limerick TDs

LOCAL solicitors met with Limerick TD’s to warn them of what they describe as the "devastating" impact of the new Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.

LOCAL solicitors met with Limerick TD’s to warn them of what they describe as the “devastating” impact of the new Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.

According to a survey by the Law Society of Ireland on the new criminal legal aid model, just three out of 260 solicitors were continuing to work under the scheme.

Criminal law solicitors practising in Limerick met with local TD’s, Niall Collins, Richard O’Donoghue, and Conor Sheehan at Leinster House to raise urgent concerns about the new model introduced by the Department of Justice.

The solicitors warned that the scheme is already forcing solicitors off criminal legal aid panels – with knock-on effects for victims, vulnerable defendants, and the courts system in Limerick.

Andrew d’Arcy, a criminal law solicitor and President of the Limerick Solicitors Bar Association, said: “Solicitors are resigning from the scheme in unprecedented numbers. In addition to those who have resigned from the Criminal Legal Aid panel, a large number have stopped working under the new scheme.”

“A Law Society poll of 260 solicitors, who were on the Criminal Legal Aid panel in June, found that just three were continuing to work under the new scheme”.

Mr d’Arcy said that “these changes will have a profoundly negative impact on access to justice and it’s not just solicitors saying this – groups including the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC), the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), and Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) have all voiced concerns about the negative impact the changes will have on the justice system. We are going to have a legal desert in Limerick at this rate.”

Solicitors told ministers that they believe the new scheme is replicating a model that has already proven to be a failure in family law.

Mr d’Arcy further commented that “the Department has designed a structure that assumes every case is the same. It isn’t. A case involving a child, or someone with a serious addiction or mental health difficulty, needs far more time – more court appearances, more meetings and more patience. None of that is reflected in a flat payment.”

They are now calling on TDs to raise the matter directly with the Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and to press for immediate engagement with the Law Society.

The flat fee scheme took effect at the start of this month despite concerns voiced by the Law Society, IHREC, ICCL, and FLAC.

Solicitors say the scheme risks becoming a de facto cap on the constitutional right to a fair trial by limiting the advice and representation a defendant can receive to a fixed number of appearances.