‘There is nothing left to negotiate’ – barrister strike could spark trial backlog as pay dispute intensifies
Criminal barristers protest on the steps of Longford Courthouse.
Midlands Circuit criminal barristers outside Longford Courthouse in an ongoing pay dispute with the Government over attempts to restore cuts to criminal legal aid funding.
Criminal trial lists in Longford and the wider midlands region could be staring into a growing logjam as protesting barristers vowed to ramp up its ongoing pay dispute with government bosses.
In what was the first of three anticipated planned days of action, up to a dozen Bar Council members took to the steps of Longford Courthouse in a bid to restore cuts to criminal legal aid funding.
The protest, which came on the first day of a scheduled four week session of Longford Circuit Criminal Court, resulted in no barristers being present for the opening of proceedings before Judge Kenneth Connolly.
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The withdrawal of services represents an escalation on similar type action that was taken by criminal barristers across the country in October last year.
Much of that unrest is rooted in the level of fees paid to criminal practitioners, which they say experienced cuts from between 28pc and 60pc during the 2008 to 2011 period.
Midlands Circuit criminal barristers outside Longford Courthouse in an ongoing pay dispute with the Government over attempts to restore cuts to criminal legal aid funding.
Will Fennelly, BL and spokesperson for the Midlands Circuit’s Council of the Bar of Ireland, said while a 10pc pay restoration announced as part of Budget 2024 was welcome, further remunerative measures were required.
“The FENBY (Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) cuts from 2009 and 2010 remain outstanding and it’s really high time they were restored,” he said.
“Secondly, we want the Government to engage around proper pay negotiated structures such as previously existed where legal aid fees were benchmarked against designated members of the public sector.
Barristers plan to hold two further days of protest on Monday, July 15 and Wednesday, July 24.
Mr Fennelly hailed the support and direction which had been afforded to members throughout a dispute that shows little sign of abating any time soon.
And, in a veiled warning to Leinster House chiefs, Mr Fennelly said the prospect of further, more sustained action was a prospect which could not be ruled out.
“I think realistically we have to be,” he said, when the question of more austere protests were being considered.
“To be fair the Bar Council have guided the profession very well around this course of action to date.
“It’s not a particularly militant profession and we have gone every inch of the road with the Government throughout this process and unfortunately we find ourselves where we are.
“There is nothing left to negotiate and there is nothing asked of us that we haven’t already done from our standpoint and in those circumstances its simply down to the Government simply honouring the restoration. Everybody else was restored, why wouldn’t we be?”
