New legal aid rules are due to come into effect on July 1, with solicitors planning to strike for the rest of the week in protest at the proposed “one accused, one fee” system.

Government sources said the changes are aimed at addressing abuse of the system, with plans to replace the current model with a flat fee of €582 per case.

Under the existing system, solicitors receive €239.39 per defendant for the first two cases, €143.61 for each additional case on the first day, and €59.86 for each subsequent hearing day.

A confidential, unpublished report completed by the Department of Justice found several issues with the free legal aid system. These included: 

• Courts not asking for statements of means;
• Cases taking nearly 2.5 times longer than those not involving free legal aid;
• Multiple solicitors from one firm representing one client on different charges and all receiving free legal aid certificates.

The outgoing regulation states that where “two or more certificates for free legal aid are granted to a person and the cases in relation to which they are granted are heard together or in immediate succession, one certificate only shall be deemed”.

'Multiple certificates' 

The report found that “multiple certificates are being granted for no stated reason” and that the number of certificates granted to a single accused person has “increased dramatically” in several cases.

In one case, the Department of Justice received requests for payments for one lone accused person for 63 legal aid certificates for charges of brothel keeping, 221 certificates for charges of theft, and 80 certificates for charges of sexual assault.

“The financial implications of the misuse of Regulation 7(4) cannot be understated, as a rough estimate for one appearance in respect of the above case with 63 certificates is €14,000,” the report said.

The report also alleged that “in order to maximise earnings”, multiple solicitors from the same legal firm frequently request legal aid for the same defendant who is facing multiple charges.

'Solicitors maximising earnings'

“For example, in a district court case where 30 separate payments were granted in respect of multiple legal aid certificates for one defendant,” states the report.

“These 30 separate certificates were divided amongst seven solicitors from the same firm.” 

In most cases, only one solicitor from the firm comes to court to represent the client.

The report also expressed concerns that statements of means for those seeking free legal aid are not being requested from the courts. When they are requested, they are “rarely furnished”.

There has been a 94% increase since 2015 in criminal legal aid expenditure, rising from €19m in 2015 to €37m in 2024. 

The number of legal aid certificates granted over this same period has increased by over 82%, from 53,937 in 2015 to 98,230 in 2024.

When legal aid is granted, the report suggested, a case takes an average of 313 days to complete, compared to 133 days when there is no legal aid.

• Louise Burne, Political Correspondent