Under the criminal legal aid system, a solicitor is paid €239.38 for a first appearance per accused and €59.86 for each subsequent appearance. [ Department’s separate legal aid payments practice seems to lack ‘legal basis’, says judgeOpens in new window ]Along with many solicitors, Collier favours reform of the criminal legal aid system, noting it dates back more than 40 years. Amanda Connolly says the ‘one flat fee’ legal aid plan will result in 'a yellowpack, plead out, next case' approach. In relation to the department’s concerns some lawyers are abusing the criminal legal aid system, particularly regarding claims under multiple legal aid certificates, Connolly says: “No one is standing over abuses. The proposal represents a “unilateral” cut to criminal legal aid and would break the commitment in the Programme for Government to “fully restore” criminal legal aid payments, cut in 2009 under emergency legislation, the representative body for solicitors says.
