Portlaoise solicitors accepting legal aid despite dispute
Just eight legal aid certificates were granted in Portlaoise in July 2026
Laois solicitors have resumed taking on legal aid criminal cases at Portlaoise District Court despite an ongoing dispute over legal aid fees.
The Laois based solicitors had refused to take up legal aid when changes to legal aid payments were introduced on July 1, 2026. They also stopped providing legal advice to people who had been arrested leading to sharp criticism from a judge who was dealing with a murder accused who failed to secure representation at Portlaoise District Court in early July.
According to figures from the Court Services, the number of legal aid certificates granted in Portlaoise in July of 2026 was just eight. This represents a 95% drop from the 171 certificates granted to solicitors in Portlaoise during the same month a year earlier in 2025.
Criminal legal aid certificates nationally dropped from 10,277 in July 2025 to 702 in July of 2026.
Solicitors returned to work as normal in Portlaoise after courts resumed on September 3 but solicitors working in Tullamore, Co Offaly, the other courthouse Courts District number 15, are understood to be still refusing to accept the new legal aid system.
Changes introduced by the Department of Justice on July 1 saw a system with an initial fee of €239.38 and payments of €59.86 per court appearance thereafter, replaced with a flat fee of which was introduced at €455 but was subsequently increased and is now set at €520.
The dispute is rumbling on and solicitors working on criminal cases in many parts of the country are still refusing to accept the new legal aid system.
The Law Society's Criminal Law Committee is now inviting all solicitors currently working in or considering entering criminal law to attend an in person meeting at their headquarters in Dublin on Wednesday, September 16 at 11am.