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It would be “inappropriate” for the Justice Minister to visit a courtroom, Jim O’Callaghan has said, as striking solicitors questioned his awareness of the impacts of their withdrawal of services.

Mr O’Callaghan said he had not attended a district court during the dispute, adding that it would be like asking the Health Minister “to go into an operation”.

In July, he introduced a single flat fee for solicitors taking on legal aid cases replacing a system where they had been paid by appearances.

Striking solicitors have sought renegotiation and questioned whether the Minister had been to the district courts to see the impact of the strike which has seen cases be adjourned for months.

Solicitor Colleen Gildernew told the Press Association she would welcome the minister’s attendance at the Criminal Courts of Justice so that “he can see for himself the chaos that ensues on a daily basis, when solicitors are not there to represent vulnerable defendants”.

Ms Gildernew added: “They’re not running and 10 minutes would show him just that.”

However, the Fianna Fáil minister said this would be “inappropriate” and added he was not going to revoke his reforms “because pressure is on”.

Asked when he was last in a district court, Mr O’Callaghan said: “I will not go into courtrooms to supervise or to look at a judge in terms of the administration of justice.

“I don’t think that would be appropriate. That’s just my own view.”

Mr O’Callaghan said he did visit courthouses to make sure they are resourced but would not go in during a case, adding: “It’d be like asking the minister for health to go into an operation that wouldn’t be possible.”

It was put to the minister that serious cases involving alleged child victims were being delayed due to the strike.

It was further put to him that the mother of one of the teenagers killed in the head-on M9 motorway collision had said her sons’ court hearings had been impacted by the strike.

The minister said: “I’m not responsible for the administration of justice. Administration of justice is exclusively within the preserve of the judiciary, and the judges who are hearing those cases make decisions based on the evidence that’s presented to them.”

He told reporters at the Fianna Fáil think-in: “I’m not going to second guess the decisions made by the judiciary. It’s their responsibility, and I’m not going to start commenting on individual cases.”

Mr O’Callaghan doubled-down on comments made last week when he said the criminal courts were running “effectively” despite a widely reported dramatic decrease in the issuing of legal aid certificates.

He said: “I get a list of the certificates for legal aid that have been issued in district courts around the country and I can see from that that the system is operating effectively in many district courts around the country.”

He added: “I have great respect for solicitors. I have listened to them. I’ve granted concessions in respect of it.

“But like the truth of the matter is that there are some solicitors who want to go back to the old system of multiple certificates and multiple adjournments that’s not going to happen.

“I said to the Law Society that at the end of a number of months, I’m going to review the new system.

“It may be the case, for instance, in the children courts, they have to look at it again. But like we’re not going to have a situation arise where just because pressure is put on, that I’m going to revoke the regulation.”