Over 40 solicitors in person and 50 online met on Wednesday 15^th July in Dolphin House to discuss the Civil Legal Aid Private Practitioners Scheme. Organised by Sandra McAleer and Caitriona Carton, the meeting was chaired by Keith Walsh and practitioners expressed their deep frustration with the lack of any progress on reviewing the Private Practitioner Scheme. Solicitors and barristers spoke of the significant amount of work they do on family law cases often without payment. The mood of the meeting was that practitioners were seriously unhappy with the scheme and that it was not fit for purpose. The volume and importance of this work for often vulnerable clients was not appreciated by the state and most practitioners believed things could not continue.

Speaking after the meeting Keith Walsh said ‘this was one of the saddest and most sobering meetings I have attended, solicitors and barristers who have by their own free work supported the private practitioner scheme are now at the end of their tether. They believe they cannot continue to prop up a dysfunctional system. Although last year’s Review of Civil Legal Aid Report by Frank Clarke called for an immediate review of the private practitioners scheme, 12 months have come and gone. Absolutely nothing has happened. The family lawyers feel like the poor relative and are going to call upon the Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to engage with them to make this scheme work. Things must change if the private practitioners scheme is to continue. It is over to the Minister now. ”