Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation Dail Éireann — 2026-06-17 ============================================================ Gary Gannon (SD), Dublin Central Has the Taoiseach any idea what is happening in the Department of justice at the moment? There seems to be an impulsivity driving and leading the Department that has scant regard for consequences. In our courts, for example, the criminal legal aid system is on the verge of collapse. Solicitors have taken to removing their labour for three days and that will continue into next week. Over the past couple of weeks, when the spokespersons asked for the analysis that is the basis on which the flat fee is being introduced, we got nothing back from the Department. Yet, I was able to ready about it today in the Daily Mail and elsewhere. There is chaos happening in, and emanating from, the Department of justice. This is nowhere better seen than in what is happening in the courts at the moment. Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister to re-engage with the people who deliver the criminal legal aid system? They have currently withdrawn their labour and the consequences of that will be dire. Nobody seems to have a clue what is going on, and no less so the Minister for justice. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:09+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-17