What is happening
See details of the proposed changes and the Law Society's response.
Statement from the Law Society on Criminal Legal Aid
Statement from the Law Society on Criminal Legal Aid
The Law Society has firmly rejected recent comments by the Minister for Justice, Jim O'Callaghan TD, which mischaracterise the position of criminal legal aid practitioners and the Law Society's engagement with changes to the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.
Campaign updates
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06 Aug 2026
Letter to Minister
Law Society President, Rosemarie Loftus, responded to the Minister for Justice following a meeting with solicitors on 31 July to discuss proposed criminal legal aid changes.
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01 Aug 2026
Press release
The Law Society issued a press release on 1 August in which we clarified that we are seeking to resolve two key outstanding issues on Criminal Legal Aid and proposed solutions to the justice minister.
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28 Jul 2026
Latest statement
"The Law Society received correspondence from the Minister for Justice this afternoon which has been circulated to criminal law solicitors."
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30 Jun 2026
Oireachtas engagement
Law Society President Rosemarie Loftus and members of the Criminal Law Committee attended a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to discuss concerns about the proposed changes to Criminal Legal Aid.
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30 Jun 2026
Statement from Law Society President Rosemarie Loftus
“!Any reform of criminal legal aid should be workable, fair and evidence based. This proposal is none of those things and the fundamental concerns the Law Society has outlined have not been addressed.”
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23 Jun 2026
Justice Minister must publish report on criminal legal aid
The Justice Minister must release the report he is using as a pretext to take a sledgehammer to the criminal legal aid scheme, according to Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon.
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26 Jun 2026
Legal, Human Rights, Civil Society organisations raise concerns
Several national legal, human rights and civil society organisations came together to voice their shared concerns regarding a planned 20% cut to Ireland's Criminal Legal Aid Scheme and the potential consequences for access to justice.
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22 Jun 2026
A more thoughtful, coherent and effective approach needed
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice, Matt Carthy TD, warns that proposals ignore the complexity of the reasons for delays in the courts and their impact on access to justice for vulnerable people and victims of crime.
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22 Jun 2026
Practitioner guidance leaves questions unanswered
Criminal law practitioners have expressed serious concern following the publication of a guidance document raises substantive operational, financial, and procedural issues for solicitors engaged in criminal defence work.
Resources for solicitors
Media coverage
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