'Emergency measures' sanctioned by Department to address delays in criminal trials
Alison O’Riordan
The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform sanctioned "emergency measures" to pay psychiatrists more for the preparation of reports on defendants in criminal cases, following severe delays in the progression of trials through the judicial system, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
A representative from the Criminal Legal Aid Unit of the Department of Justice, who had been asked to attend court on Wednesday, also agreed that his department would pay the same rates to defence psychiatrists as those offered to prosecution experts until June.
The court heard that the Dept of Justice has now set up a task force to address the issue.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott, the judge overseeing the trial list at the Central Criminal Court, said the importance of the issue could not be underestimated, "particularly for victims of violent crime".
He had previously said it is "completely unacceptable" that the State was not in a position to facilitate the trial process in securing psychiatric assessments.
Although psychiatric issues are explored in as many as 20 per cent of murder trials in Ireland, there is no legal obligation for HSE-employed psychiatrists to provide assessments for criminal cases.
While the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) has a panel of experienced forensic psychiatrists employed by the HSE, they are under no contractual obligation to provide reports for either prosecution or defence teams.
Currently, there is no definitive panel of psychiatrists available to lawyers to conduct assessments.
On January 14th last, Mr Justice McDermott asked that the Attorney General and Department of Justice nominate someone to attend court to address difficulties engaging psychiatrists to provide assessments of accused persons.
When one of the cases was called before the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday, Brendan Grehan SC, who appeared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told Mr Justice McDermott that the unavailability of psychiatrists was not confined to defence teams and that it had also proven difficult for the State to procure experts.
Mr Grehan said the court was also aware from past hearings of fee differentials between the prosecution and defence.
Counsel said the Director had made efforts to address the difficulties in obtaining psychiatric reports and had written to the Secretary General of the Department of Justice in late 2024 on this issue.
Mr Grehan said the Director had additionally provided data to the Department of Justice on the average number of annual files in which her office had to pay for a psychiatric report over the last five years.
In order to alleviate the issues, the lawyer said the Director had received sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) for the prosecution to pay up to €300 per hour for the preparation of psychiatric reports.
He said this was a time-limited provision available until the end of June 2026.
Mr Grehan said these were "emergency measures" to address the issue. He went on to say that previous fees payable to psychiatrists preparing reports for the DPP was €180 per hour, while the figure for those preparing defence reports was €50 less per hour.
Finally, the barrister said, the Deputy Director had attended a high-level meeting this month hosted by the Department of Justice and at which the Clinical Director of the CMH also attended.
Unavailability of psychiatrists
He said the meeting was made aware that Mr Justice McDermott had indicated on several occasions that it may be necessary to call officials before the court to explain the matter.
Mr Grehan informed the court that the Department of Justice is to establish "a task and finish group", which will operate under a time limit, to understand and address how the barriers and obstacles in relation to the unavailability of psychiatrists in criminal trials can be unblocked.
"It sounds like a task force but one aimed at providing a solution and resolving the issue," he said.
Jack McGarry, from the Criminal Legal Aid Unit, told the judge that the Department of Justice confirmed that, if the DPP had raised their fees in specific circumstances, then his department would be willing to sanction those fees "in specific cases".
"Is it proposed that would apply across the board to consultant forensic psychiatrists doing work on the defence side up to June 2026?" asked Mr Justice McDermott, to which McGarry said it would.
The judge said it was not his function to negotiate psychiatrist fees, but he wanted movement in relation to these cases, which were causing an "impasse" on his Central Criminal Court trial list.
He said an equal fee structure would seem to be appropriate based on parity or equality of arms.
Mr Justice McDermott said that these were "absolutely essential" issues and that situations were occurring where consultant forensic psychiatrists were being retained outside the State.
He pointed to one case where the State had difficulties in finding a psychiatrist, which led to an Australia-based mental health professional offering his services.
Mr Justice McDermott remarked today: "That is the dire state we are in, where psychiatrists are volunteering from abroad, including the UK".
The judge said his concern was for the "unfortunate people" who were having their cases delayed by this kind of issue.
He said it was difficult for people to come into court where they have lost loved ones, find out there is "an impasse" and then have to come back "again and again and again, not able to get a report done to move the case on".
Mr Justice McDermott added: "I would have thought it would also be the concern of the Department of Justice; it has to stop and I'm glad to hear a task force is being set up and a realistic process being put in place for attaining psychiatrists".
The judge stressed that the court system needed to have psychiatric services available, as it was essential to the operation of a fair system.
Mr Justice McDermott thanked Mr McGarry for his attendance and said the importance of this could not be underestimated, "but particularly for victims of violent crime".
He said it was very important for these cases to proceed at pace and that he shouldn't have to get involved "at this level", but was glad to hear progress had been made.
