Ahead of Budget 2025, The Bar of Ireland has published its Pre-Budget Submission, calling on Government to restore the full range of FEMPI-era cuts to criminal barristers working for the State, in addition to restoration of the link with national wage agreements, to prevent further erosion of the real value of pay for criminal law practitioners.
The Bar of Ireland, which represents over 2,000 practising barristers in Ireland, has been campaigning on this issue on behalf of its members for eight years. Barristers are the only group of workers in the criminal justice sector who have not had the FEMPI-era cuts reversed.
This resulted in the unprecedented nationwide withdrawal of service by barristers in October 2023, and most recently in July 2024, with the aim of seeking an independent, meaningful, time-limited and binding mechanism to determine the fees paid to criminal barristers by the Director of Public Prosecutions and under the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Scheme.
A 10% restoration of fees was announced in Budget 2024 last October, representing an unwinding of the 10% cut that was uniquely applied to barristers in 2011. However, even after this 10% was restored, the full range of FEMPI-era cuts that were applied across the public sector, continue to apply to the profession.
When announcing Budget 2024, Government committed to a review process looking at the structure and level of fees paid to criminal barristers. Following a series of subsequent correspondence with Government representatives, the situation remains at an impasse.
Chair of The Council of The Bar of Ireland, Seán Guerin SC said:
Since, and for many years prior to the last Budget, the cooperation of The Bar of Ireland in ongoing reform and improvement of the administration of criminal justice has never been found wanting. That has been acknowledged as far back as 2018 by several Government Ministers, senior civil servants and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Yet, barristers continue to be treated differently to others in the criminal justice system and indeed to society at large. All we are seeking is fairness for our members, and for necessary investment in the criminal justice system.
“We are calling on the Government to reverse the FEMPI era pay cuts and to restore the link with national wage agreements. The frustration amongst criminal law practitioners was clear at the protests earlier this year and last.
“We welcome the assurance the Taoiseach has recently given to the Bar Council that he and the Minister for Justice are committed to further restoration of professional fees.
We have seen the impact that delays have on people who have cause to go through the criminal justice system. A lack of experienced and available barristers to fully and properly defend or prosecute a case leads to inequality and injustice, which have an impact on everyone in society. Public trust in the criminal justice system should not be taken for granted and must be protected, he added.
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