Legal aid dispute may lead to ‘long backlog’ of cases at Longford District Court
Large number of cases at Longford District Court were adjourned with solicitors withdrawing their services as part of an ongoing dispute
A large number of cases at Longford District Court on Tuesday were adjourned with solicitors withdrawing their services as part of an ongoing dispute over the introduction of a flat fee per client system.
And well-known local solicitor John Anderson has said he believes the repercussions, if it continues, may be felt for a 'long time to come'.
Solicitors across the country staged a mass withdrawal of services from the criminal legal aid scheme last week and they have vowed that it will continue until there is meaningful dialogue.
The dispute began after Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan announced plans to introduce a flat fee of €455 per legal aid client, regardless of the number of court appearances.
Solicitor John Anderson of George Lynch & Son Solicitors along with his colleagues Aoife Kelly and Adrian Gillick regularly represents clients in Longford District Court and they were informed by email on June 9.
Mr Anderson said their firm has withdrawn their services and they will not be dealing with criminal cases in Longford District Court unless it is juveniles or clients in custody and 'there is no end date' in sight.
He would like to see the planned changes pushed back until November and 'then a proper consultation'.
Mr Anderson said the average pay per case is 'currently €299 per legal aid per client', and although he believes solicitors could actually make more money out of the new system, he is strongly opposed.
"Minister O'Callaghan said that he wants to make the system more efficient, which is perfect, we all want a bit more efficiency.
"But what he is not taking into account is that 80% of adjournments are actually at the request of the State and not defence solicitors."
Mr Anderson said the 'biggest gripe' they have with the flat rate system is that the €455 is to be paid at the end and he could represent a client 12 times who could then switch to a different solicitor, which is 'very unfair'.
He stated that the adjournment of the majority of cases at Longford District Court on Tuesday "is going to cause problems way down the line and we could be dealing with this for a long time to come".
He added: "The problem is it doubles the workload for the next court sitting."
The industrial action held from Wednesday, June 17 to last Friday, June 19 is continuing from Monday to Friday this week.
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Cathy McDarby, a criminal defence solicitor, at the Co Mayo law firm McDarby & Co Solicitors, said it is an individual withdrawal by every solicitor of their own volition.
"Everybody makes their own decision.
"It has been across the country and solicitors are making their own decisions that they are not in a position pending these new cuts—which can only be described as cuts to come in—not to be able to attend to court cases.
"This wasn't our first, second, third or fourth resort, this was beyond our last resort, we don't want to be doing this.
"It will continue until there is meaningful dialogue."