The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has sanctioned “emergency measures” to pay more to psychiatrists for reports on criminal defendants.
It follows severe delays to trials and a request from a Central Criminal Court judge for a Department of Justice representative to address the court on the difficulties in engaging psychiatrists to provide assessments of accused persons.
A representative from the Criminal Legal Aid Unit of the Department of Justice on Wednesday agreed that, until June, the department would pay the same rates to defence psychiatrists as those offered to prosecution experts. The court heard the Department of Justice has established a task force to address the issue.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott, who oversees the Central Criminal Court trial list, said the importance of the issue could not be underestimated, “particularly for victims of violent crime”. He previously said it was “completely unacceptable” the State was not able to facilitate the trial process by securing psychiatric assessments.
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Psychiatric issues are explored in as many as 20 per cent of murder trials in Ireland, but 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 prosecution or defence teams. There is no definitive panel of psychiatrists available to lawyers to conduct assessments.
On Wednesday, Brendan Grehan SC, who appeared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told Mr Justice McDermott the unavailability of psychiatrists is not confined to defence teams. It has also been difficult for the State to procure experts, he said.
Mr Grehan said there is a difference in fees for the prosecution and defence.
Counsel said the DPP 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 about this matter.
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To alleviate the issues, the lawyer said the director received sanction from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform 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”. He went on to say that the previous fee 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.
Mr Grehan said the Department of Justice is to establish “a task and finish group” that will operate under a time limit to address how the barriers to the availability of psychiatrists in criminal trials can be lifted.
Jack McGarry, from the Criminal Legal Aid Unit, told the judge that the Department of Justice confirmed his department would be willing to sanction those raised 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 on 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 on the basis of parity or equality of arms.
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Mr Justice McDermott said these were “absolutely essential” issues and 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: “That is the dire state we are in, where psychiatrists are volunteering from abroad including the UK.”
The judge said it was difficult for people to come to court, having lost loved ones, to find “an impasse” so they have to come back “again and again”.
