Government set to seek concessions from lawyers in exchange for fee cuts reversal

The Government is set to seek concessions from lawyers in exchange for reversing recession-era cuts to fees paid to barristers and solicitors working in criminal law.

Following calls for the cuts to be undone at a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party on Tuesday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar signalled that he would raise the matter with Minister for Justice Simon Harris and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe.

However, he indicated the Government would seek something in return, on the basis that public servants who had seen the cuts reversed had carried out reforms in return.

This stance was mirrored on Thursday in a statement from a spokeswoman for Mr Donohoe, whose department is seen as historically opposed to the reversal of the cuts – known as the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI). She said adjustments to the fee structure “could only be considered in the context of securing necessary and substantial reform”.

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Fine Gael Senator Barry Ward – also a practising criminal barrister – who raised the issue at Wednesday’s meeting, said lawyers would be open to reform but that issues with the wider legal system needed to be examined. “Of course lawyers will be open to reforms and efficiencies, but the difficulty lies not with lawyers but with the court system, and the lack of judges and the lack of courtrooms to hold trials,” he said. Mr Ward was backed by Fine Gael colleagues at the meeting – many of whom are also lawyers.

Reversing the cuts has been a long-standing issue for criminal barristers and solicitors, who say they have been left behind while others have seen their pay restored – most recently the top-paid civil servants, including judges, who saw their pay restored last year.

A spokesman for the Bar of Ireland, which represents barristers, said it welcomed Mr Varadkar’s interest in the issue, and that cuts ranging from 28.5 per cent to 69 per cent were applied to the Bar during the period 2008-2011.

He said that the rates paid to barristers were below 2002 fee levels in nominal terms and argued that criminal barristers “have already personally borne the cost of a myriad of reforms in practice and procedure introduced by the Oireachtas and in European law, across all jurisdictions”.

“We remain available to meet the Taoiseach, his officials and indeed colleagues from the Department of Public and Reform to advance this long-standing and now acutely damaging issue that is causing an emerging manpower crisis.” The Law Society, which represents solicitors, said an effective and viable legal aid system “that serves those with unmet legal needs is vital to ensure access to justice for all”.

A spokesman for Mr Harris said he and the Department of Justice “recognise the important role played by barristers in undertaking criminal legal aid work” and “supports the reversal of FEMPI-related fee reductions for those in the legal profession in line with action taken to restore the pay of public and civil servants”. He said the department would continue to engage with its public spending counterpart on the issue.