Solicitors involved in criminal legal aid work are expected to halt services on bail cases from today until Friday in the District Court, Circuit Court, Central Criminal Court, Special Criminal Court and Court of Appeal. Cases involving defendants in custody are not affected, the Irish Independent reports.

The dispute centres on Department of Justice plans to introduce a flat-fee payment system from next month. Under the proposed model, solicitors would receive a single fee per client regardless of the number of charges involved. At present, payments are linked to court appearances.

Criminal defence lawyers argue the changes would make legal aid work financially unviable and threaten representation for vulnerable defendants.

“We were informed that the Department of Justice was not engaging on a meaningful substantive basis with the Law Society in respect of the introduction of these proposals,” said Tony Collier, a criminal defence solicitor.

“The consequence of this proposal would be to remove the cash flow on which criminal legal aid defence solicitors depend to run their offices, to pay their staff and to meet the other necessities of professional practice. In short, the proposal is one which makes the practice of criminal legal aid defence work unviable.”

A Department of Justice spokesperson said it was aware of reports of a potential withdrawal of some services under the criminal legal aid scheme.

The proposed reforms follow a government review which said a “one accused, one fee” model would simplify administration and “reduce opportunities for abuse”.

The review cited cases in which dozens of legal aid certificates were issued to a single defendant and said spending on criminal legal aid in the District Court had risen from €19 million in 2015 to €37m in 2024.

The Law Society, which is not coordinating the action, said it was continuing discussions with the department and had highlighted concerns about aspects of the proposed reforms.