Kildare solicitor strike over legal aid

For the first time outside judicial illness no public cases were heard at Athy District Court this week (9 June) as Kildare solicitors took part in a strike against proposed changes to the legal aid system that could lead to more defendants being pressured into early guilty pleas.

Under the bemused direction of visiting Judge Valerie Corcoran from Galway a 10-page list was reduced to a mass list of adjournments as local practitioners refused all legal aid work.

“Dublin solicitors withdrew services from evening courts, late courts and garda stations, and we joined on Tuesday,” said one veteran of the Kildare district.

There are contrary reports that whether this is a once off or will continue into sittings in Naas District Court.

At present, a solicitor will get a flat fee of €200 from legal aid for a first appearance, with a further €60 for every subsequent appearance.

What the industry is looking for is a return to pre-austerity payments of a €300 first fee with subsequent payments of €70 per court appearance.

What Minister Jim O’Callaghan is proposing is a flat fee of €455, regardless of many court appearances there are.

“To be honest, this will cost the taxpayer more money,” said the solicitor.

“At the moment, if I have five legal aid cases in a day, I get €200 each for the first two, then €100 for each of the next three – that’s €700 total – but under Big Jim’s reign I get €455 for each of them. That’s a total of €2,275.

“It just doesn’t make sense, but if he wants to line my pockets, let him.

“We’d need to make seven or eight appearances per case to make that sort of money, and very few cases outside of drink driving ever get adjourned six times.

“We’re seeking a restoration to pre-austerity rates (which an Oireachtas committee recommended back in December 2023).

“Everybody – the consultants, civil servants, teachers – have had their payments restored except solicitors,” he said.

The Kildare Nationalist asked if this new payment scheme might see vulnerable defendants pressured into early pleas of guilty so as not to drag out a case the solicitor said: “I couldn’t possibly say that, but you might”.

“We were promised pay restoration by the government, but Minister O’Callaghan is now looking to change this,” he said.

“We’ve joined solicitors from Waterford, Cork, Dublin and Meath, but it’s growing all over the country."

He added: “Obviously (Minister O'Callaghan) hasn’t consulted with people in our field, but hopefully he’ll get the message”.

The Irish legal aid bill is approximately €72m, €37m of which is earmarked for the district court system alone.