Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

A headline in The Irish Times states FEMPI rules have been unwound. That is what the public expenditure Minister said in his annual report on the operation of the 2009 FEMPI legislation, which he laid before the Oireachtas in recent days. Someone should really tell practising criminal barristers that the FEMPI cuts have been unwound because, in their professional lives, they clearly state they have not been. It is a matter of fact that they have not. If the era of FEMPI is truly over, it has to be concluded with no exceptions whatsoever.

We rightly speak a lot in this House about the traumatising impact that the courts process can have on the victims of crime, but we cannot state objectively that we care about the victims of crime if we do not treat fairly the professionals on whom the State depends for the fair functioning of our courts system to advocate, defend and prosecute. The latter were promised a 10% restoration and they received it last year, but they were also promised an independent review mechanism to address the fee structures. They did not get this. Why are they being singled out for this inequitable and downright shabby treatment? The Department of Justice seems to be passing the buck to the Department of public expenditure and reform but I assume it is in fact the former that is responsible for managing and addressing this issue, given that its Minister is before us this evening to answer in this debate.

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