Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We did not get a written reply, so this is difficult. The Bar Council is taking unprecedented action. October was the first time such action had ever been taken, and now we are to have action again for three days. Sara Phelan, chair of the Bar Council, has stated the council has at all times made clear, both to Government and to its members, that it would be willing to allow a period of time up to 30 June 2024 for the review proposed but that nothing has happened. Seán Guerin, SC, chair of the Criminal State Bar Committee, said:

It is highly regrettable that we have been left with no choice but to take this course of action. It has been acknowledged in Government that there is ‘no good reason’ why fees of criminal barristers shouldn’t be restored, yet eight months on from a commitment to establish a review process, no meaningful progress has been made.

This has the most serious consequences for the criminal law, justice and the common good. Barristers are being treated differently. All civil and public servants, including us in this Chamber, have had their pay restored, but not barristers.

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