In correspondence issued to the Law Society today, O’Callaghan confirmed that the flat fee of €520 for District Court criminal legal aid cases will remain. The Department of Justice said the change would have no additional cost implications for the criminal legal aid scheme. He also said any criminal legal aid solicitor who resigned from the legal aid panel during the dispute but now wishes to return can be reinstated without delay by applying through the Courts Service. “The new District Court Criminal Legal Aid Scheme will allow for those efficiencies.” The dispute centres on reforms introduced on 1 July, which replaced the previous payment structure for District Court criminal legal aid cases with a flat-fee model.