RTÉ's Legal Affairs Correspondent Órla O'Donnell reported on June 22, 2026 that thousands of court cases had been adjourned due to the withdrawal of legal aid work by solicitors across the country, and turned to Ferrys Solicitors partner Tony Collier for the solicitors' perspective. Our criminal defence solicitors act for clients in the District Court, Circuit Court and Central Criminal Court, much of it under the criminal legal aid scheme.
Mr Collier said the new proposals from the Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan, would leave the work of solicitors delivering criminal defence work on behalf of the State in the District Court unviable.
He said the plan would also place a cap on the amount of legal aid services available for the most vulnerable in society.
Mr Collier said solicitors were eager to resolve the matter with the Department. However, he said there seemed to be a lack of willingness on the part of the Department to engage substantively with the Law Society.
What the numbers mean for a firm like Ferrys
Currently a solicitor is paid €239.38 for a first court appearance and €59.86 for each subsequent hearing. From July 1 a set fee of €455 is to be payable regardless of how many appearances a case involves.
For straightforward cases that number may look adequate. For the clients Ferrys' criminal defence team most often represents under legal aid, people with addiction, mental health or housing difficulties whose cases can run to ten or more remand dates, the fee falls well below the cost of attending court each time. That is what Mr Collier means by a cap: a firm can only afford to provide so much representation for a fixed fee, and the people who need the most court time are the ones who lose out.
Impact on the ground
Solicitors withdrew for the rest of the week in all cases involving an accused person on bail. Hundreds of cases at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin, where Ferrys practises daily, were adjourned. Solicitors in Cork voted to withdraw completely from the following Monday, including custody cases, with the exception of juveniles.
Where things stand
The Law Society, which says it is not organising the protest, met Department officials and a further meeting was scheduled for later in the week. A meeting of solicitors was expected at the Law Society's headquarters on Friday.
The Department said it continued to engage with all relevant stakeholders and recognised that the criminal legal aid scheme is fundamental to upholding the right to a legal defence. The Minister has said the reforms are aimed at making the system more efficient, fairer and faster.