Tipperary left with one legal aid solicitor after mass resignations

The county, which has two court districts, previously had 34 solicitors providing legal aid services.

The mass resignations come amid a nationwide row between justice minister Jim O’Callaghan and criminal defence solicitors over proposed changes to the legal aid payment system.

Maura Derivan, a member of the Tipperary Solicitors’ Bar Association and a former president of the Law Society, said solicitors were seeking “a fair and proper model” for remuneration that reflected the length and complexity of criminal cases.

The minister has proposed replacing the current system of paying solicitors for each court appearance with a flat fee of €520 per case, regardless of the number of appearances required. He has said officials will review cases involving more than 20 court appearances.

Ms Derivan said the proposal would leave solicitors receiving “basically, €26 to go and spend your day in court, and all the preparation that goes with that” if a case was adjourned 20 times.

She said adjournments were often beyond solicitors’ control, adding: “Anything can happen in the meantime. A child might need a psychologist, someone might need an interpreter. The model that was there before catered for that.”

Mr O’Callaghan has also proposed ending separate payments for each charge faced by an accused. He cited one case involving 130 charges, where a law firm claimed €31,000 for a single day in court.

Lawyers argue that each charge requires separate preparation. Ms Derivan said: “It’s like calling out a plumber for a leaky tap, which is going to take half-an-hour, and then discovering they have to take up the floorboards because there is a burst pipe, and then asking them to fix the washing machine while they are there, while only paying them for the leaky tap.”

Hundreds of solicitors have withdrawn from legal aid panels across Ireland, leading to thousands of criminal cases being adjourned. Around 70 solicitors representing all but two criminal law firms in Dublin voted on Thursday to continue their withdrawal of services.