A GROUP REPRESENTING striking solicitors has said its members do not believe the changes made by the government in response to its industrial action eases members’ concerns. 

In a statement today, the Law Society of Ireland said that some progress has been made since a meeting on 27 July but added that a meeting of 250 determined that more needs to be done to get them on board with the new measures. 

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan had agreed to make changes to the rollout of the new criminal legal aid payment system following talks with solicitors, but has insisted that the controversial €520 flat-fee model will remain in place.

The dispute has caused weeks of disruption in the District Court, where thousands of cases have been adjourned following work stoppages by criminal defence solicitors protesting the changes.

In correspondence issued to the Law Society today, O’Callaghan confirmed that the flat fee of €520 for District Court criminal legal aid cases will remain.

However, he has agreed to split the payment so that two-thirds of the fee will be paid at the commencement of a case, with the remaining third paid either when the case concludes or after 12 months, whichever comes first.

In a statement today the Law Society said it sent a letter to O’Callaghan in which its President Rosemarie Loftus acknowledged several positive developments arising from recent correspondence.

She said that this includes the splitting of fees into two instalments and a commitment to ongoing engagement with the profession as the new Scheme beds in.

Loftus said that the Law Society has been calling for reform of the Criminal Legal Aid system for years, but said any new system must be practical, evidence based and capable of protecting the rights of people while also being sustainable for the lawyers.

“The clear feedback we have received from practitioners is that these two adjustments would alleviate the principal remaining concerns regarding the operation of the Scheme. We understand that a significant majority of criminal legal aid solicitors would regard the scheme as workable and viable if these measures were adopted on an interim basis, pending the outcome of the Department’s comprehensive review of Criminal Legal Aid and the wider criminal justice reforms currently under way,” she said. 

Loftus added that the Law Society is willing to engage with the Minister and his officials to finding a resolution. 

‘Significant practical concerns’

The Criminal Law Committee of the Law Society held a meeting with practitioners on friday evening, attended by 250 practitioners in criminal law to discuss the recent changes and clarifications.

The press release said that while practitioners acknowledged some progress made, the feedback received from criminal law solicitors nationwide was that the changes made in recent days do not, on their own, address the significant practical concerns they have with the Scheme introduced on 1 July, 2026.

“The feedback we have received is that most practitioners would likely participate in the Scheme on an interim basis if a small number of targeted corrections and adjustments were made while the broader review is undertaken,” it said. 

The two critical issues identified by the practitioners. The first concerns the treatment of separate and distinct criminal cases that happen, for efficiency, to be before the court on the same day.

They gave the example that a defendant could be charged with multiple offences in separate cases and that because of that they are dealing with multiple cases of evidence.

The lawyers said that this requires separate preparation to give their client the best representation.

She said that the new scheme gives solicitors just one €520 payment despite there being multiple legal aid certificates issued by the court. 

The second issue concerns cases that drag on for a long period of time because of multiple court appearances.

The law Society said these generally are associated with children, people with mental health issues and people remanded in custody by judges.

The Law Society’s issue is that under the new Scheme, a solicitor who represents someone on court for a non-complex matter will be paid the same as someone who represents a troubled child in a complex case involving 20+ court appearances.