Mayo solicitors continue to withdraw service over legal aid standoff

Mayo solicitors continue to withdraw their services in the district court in protest to proposed changes to the legal aid scheme.

Solicitors in Mayo remain withdrawn from the legal aid panel as part of a nationwide protest against Department of Justice plans to overhaul how they are paid for representing clients who cannot afford private representation.

The dispute centres on changes to the legal aid payment system announced in July, which would replace the current per-appearance fee structure with a flat fee covering a fixed number of court appearances. Under the existing system, solicitors are paid €239.38 for a first court appearance and €59.86 for each subsequent hearing. Under the proposed reform, a flat fee of € 520 would apply regardless of how many appearances a case requires in the District Court.

The Law Society has described the proposals as a cost-cutting measure presented as reform, and solicitors across the country have withdrawn their services in protest. Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan has defended the changes, arguing that the old scheme incentivised multiple adjournments and that legal aid cases took longer to complete than others.

Two sticking points

Cathy McDarby, Vice President of the Mayo Solicitors Bar Association and a Ballinrobe-based solicitor, said a key concern locally is the requirement for separate certificates for distinct offences. While continuous offences should be treated as one case, she said, separate incidents require separate certificates — adding to the administrative and financial strain on practitioners.

“We're saying the separate and distinct cases can't be treated as one,” she told The Mayo News.

To explain the point, she uses the example where someone is caught dangerous driving on a Tuesday, and then again on Sunday for shoplifting. Those are two separate incidents on two separate dates. But if both cases happen to come before the court on the same first day, they're only treated as one certificate.

The dangerous driving charge might be dealt with that day, but the theft charge often can't be — statements need to be taken, CCTV footage has to be gathered, and there's a whole pile of preparatory work involved. If the client decides to fight that charge rather than plead guilty, none of that additional work is paid for.

“What we're saying is that separate incidents should draw separate certificates,” the Vice President of the Mayo Solicitors Bar Association said.

A second major issue, McDarby identifies, involves certificates for cases involving vulnerable people and children. "It needs to be really looked at because you can be in court 20 or 30 times for these people, and you're getting paid 520 euros for the whole case," she said. "At a certain time, it becomes economically unviable. You don't want a situation where people are rushing children's cases, people mental health cases, because they're not being paid."

Dialogue

Despite the impasse, McDarby stressed the importance of dialogue over public confrontation. “I don't want to say that there will be a breaking point... I don't think there should be a breaking point. We should have dialogue, and neither party should force the other party to break. That's not the way you should do things. You should sit down and talk.”

She said solicitors want to return to court as soon as the issues are resolved. "That's where we want to be. That's where we're happiest... We're helping victims. We want to be back in there. And as I say, dialogue, dialogue, dialogue."

Noting that talks are ongoing between the Law Society and the Department of Justice, McDarby said: “If they get back in talking, then once they come to an agreement, we’ll be back in that evening or the next morning.”