The reforms, introduced at the beginning of this month, replace the previous system with a flat fee of €520 per case regardless of the number of charges or court appearances. The changes have prompted a dispute with criminal defence solicitors, who are staging a five-day withdrawal of district court legal aid work.

Mr O’Callaghan is due to meet the Law Society next week but said the flat-fee model would remain.

There are “some areas where they can make points to me that I will accept and engage with them on”, Mr O’Callaghan said. However, he added: “I’m not going to go back to the old system whereby multiple certificates can be issued to solicitors who are representing the one accused before the District Court.”

The Department of Justice has published examples of high-value legal aid claims under the previous system. In one Dublin money-laundering case, 130 legal aid certificates were issued, amounting to around €31,000 for a single court sitting. Another case in Wexford involving a sexual assault charge generated 93 certificates worth about €22,000, while a Dublin rape case involving 32 charges resulted in payments of around €7,680.

Mr O’Callaghan said: “The practice that has developed is that solicitors are charging a fee, and spreading it around the solicitors’ firm, of €240 for each charge. That means it costs a significant amount of money. I regard that as a system that I cannot stand over.”

He also said the previous payment structure encouraged repeated adjournments, contributing to delays and tying up Garda resources.

“I am not going to allow a situation where there is a system of payment in place that incentivises adjournments, and that exists at present,” he said.

However, Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon accused the minister of unfairly blaming solicitors for court delays.

“There is no evidence to support this, no rationale for the changes that have now been railroaded through and very little comprehension by the minister or his department of the very significant threat to the criminal justice system they have unleashed,” he said.

Criminal legal aid costs in the District Court have risen from €19 million in 2015 to more than €40 million in 2025, while the number of legal aid certificates has increased by 82 per cent over the same period.