Tessa Fleming

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1,453 appearances 37 recordings 2 series first heard Apr 2026 last heard 4d ago

Tessa Fleming’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 37 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 15.

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The Indo Daily · Jim O’Callaghan v the Lawyers: The high-stakes legal aid showdown · 31 Jul 2026 podcast

It's already been a month and the legal aid dispute between the minister and his former legal colleagues continues to intensify.

O'Callaghan has staked his Fianna Fáil leadership ambitions on reforming the legal system.

But as tensions between the two sides escalate, is the Justice Minister playing with fire?

This is really, I think, high stakes legislation.

for Jim O'Callaghan, particularly when it's coming possibly months ahead, he's seeking to lead Fianna Fáil.

This could go wrong for him.

And if they don't play ball, then that's a political crisis.

And with a resolution seemingly far off, what does it mean for those caught in the crossfire looking for access to justice?

I'm Tessa Fleming, and today on the IndoDaily, I'm joined by the Irish independents Mary Regan and John Downing to unpack the growing dispute, the political stakes, and what it could mean for the future of the man at its centre.

Mary Regan, it's been about a month since Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan introduced his legal reforms, this new payment scheme when it comes to legal aid.

But it looks like he's still locked in a battle with lawyers over these changes.

So maybe just remind us and take us back.

What's this row all about and how did it begin?

Well, it began last February and the justice minister issued a statement, really, that he was reforming how solicitors are paid under the free legal aid scheme.

Now, he himself says there was a lot of consultation that he spoke to the profession at the time.

They say that they were invited to submit their views on how the system should be changed pretty much on the same day that he issued the press release.

So they claim it was a done deal.

Essentially, what he's trying to do is to introduce a flat fee for how solicitors are paid for pre-legal aid cases.

So people who don't have the means are entitled to free legal aid.

It's up to the judge in a case to decide whether they have the means or not.

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