Kilkenny barristers to withdraw services next Tuesday
Barristers in Kilkenny who practice criminal law will withdraw their services next Tuesday in pursuit of a meaningful, independent and time-limited mechanism to determine the fees payable to barristers by the Director of Public Prosecutions and under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) scheme.
The failure by successive governments to adequately invest in the criminal justice system is a cause of great concern according to members of the Kilkenny Solicitors Bar Association.
In advance of the publication of Budget 2024, solicitors in Kilkenny are urging Government to take action and to make provisions for adequate investment in the criminal legal aid system.
Fees for criminal legal aid work were cut several times during the financial emergency more than a decade ago, and despite the increasing complexity of criminal legal work in that period, these rates have still not been reviewed - the only part of the public sector not to have pay cuts reinstated.
Criminal legal aid fees are almost 30% less than they were before the cuts were imposed without taking account of significant inflation over that time.