MINISTER FOR JUSTICE Jim O’Callaghan has claimed that striking criminal legal aid solicitors have hired public relations firms to try to present him as “intransigent” in relation to the ongoing dispute.

He made the remark to TDs and senators this afternoon during his appearance at the Oireachtas Justice Committee, where he was answering questions about the new flat fee model for criminal legal aid solicitors.

In response to the comment, Labour TD Alan Kelly accused the minister of being “very tetchy”. 

Just before the committee, O’Callaghan wrote to the president of the Law Society to arrange a meeting this week in an effort to resolve the solicitors’ strike, which has been ongoing since July.

The move represents a small climbdown from the Justice Minister, who had ignored the Law Society’s recent requests for a meeting until now, having last met them at the end of July.

It follows criminal legal aid solicitors escalating their strike action yesterday in response to O’Callaghan’s reforms to the pay structure for criminal legal aid. 

In his opening statement for today’s committee meeting, submitted to the committee last night, O’Callaghan suggested that striking solicitors were deliberately targeting rape trials. 

The accusation led to widespread criticism today from solicitors and opposition TDs, with the issue raised during Leaders’ Questions today by the Social Democrats and the Labour Party. 

Calls to withdraw remarks

At the outset of O’Callaghan’s appearance at today’s committee, Fine Gael TD and barrister Barry Ward said O’Callaghan’s remarks about solicitors deliberately targeting rape trials were “grossly unfair” and inaccurate.

He called on O’Callaghan to withdraw the remark and noted that every new trial in the Central Criminal Court yesterday was a rape trial. 

“So there’s no evidence to suggest that solicitors were deliberately targeting that,” Ward said.

O’Callaghan said he is “not trying to antagonise” solicitors but refused to withdraw his remarks.

Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward accused the minister of “cherry-picking ” one court in his remarks yesterday and noted that a variety of other cases, including robbery, arson, fraud, money laundering and drug offences, were impacted across the country yesterday. 

Ward said O’Callaghan cherry-picked the rape cases in the Central Criminal Court “because it suits your political agenda at the moment”.

In response, O’Callaghan said he focused on the Central Criminal Court because that’s “where the campaign was yesterday”.

“I was perfectly entitled to make the point I did,” O’Callaghan said. 

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon pushed back on the minister’s repeated claim that the dispute is predominantly impacting Dublin.

He noted that cases in Castlebar, Trim, Wicklow, Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim and elsewhere also faced disruption yesterday as a result of the ongoing strike. 

‘Public relations firms have been hired’ 

During today’s committee appearance, the justice minister took issue with the striking solicitors’ use of public relations firms as part of the dispute. 

He claimed they were hired to try and “present me as being intransigent”. 

“I have no issue in terms of people criticising me. I don’t take criticism that badly, but I do want to emphasise that I have changed… There’s a whole series [of changes] that I’ve made,” O’Callaghan said. 

He added, however, that while he has been happy to “tweak” some of his reforms to the flat fee model, he will not be abandoning it altogether. 

Labour's justice spokesperson Alan Kelly. Oireachtas Oireachtas

In response to O’Callaghan’s remarks about PR firms being used, Labour TD Alan Kelly said he took a note to put in a parliamentary question seeking information on how much the Department of Justice spends on PR firms.

Responding to this, chair of the committee, Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy, remarked that the Department of Justice has 16 staff working on communications “at a cost of over €1 million a year”.

“But I wouldn’t disparage them by suggesting you are taking any of their advice in relation to this issue, because I don’t think you are,” Carthy said, prompting laughs from committee members.

Meanwhile, Kelly said the minister was being “very tetchy”.

“You’re very tetchy here this afternoon, if I may say so.

“I have to deal with you week in and week out, and you’re much more tetchy than normal,” he said.

Kelly said he agrees with the minister that reform of the pay structure is necessary, but he said the minister was “throwing fuel on the fire” with his remarks about rape trials and that they were “a massive misstep”. 

It was “beneath your role, to be honest with you”, Kelly said. 

Asked by Kelly what areas he is willing to negotiate with solicitors on, O’Callaghan said that in relation to children’s cases, he is willing to change his approach if a review, which is currently being carried out, finds that the average length for a children’s case to conclude is longer than five court appearances. 

Long-term consequences 

Kelly said it is his view that this dispute will be escalated further, and asked what the minister will do if people “fall through the cracks”. 

He said people who should not be out on bail will be out on bail as a result of this dispute if it continues. 

The minister said he disagreed with this and said he believes people who “should be remanded in custody continue to be remanded in custody”. 

“A person can always fall between the cracks even if they are legally represented,” O’Callaghan said.