No Fee on State’s Guarantee Campaign

 


Dear Deputy,

I am writing to you as a constituent regarding court fees in the Superior Courts — the High Court, Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court — where citizens seek to vindicate constitutional rights.

The Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to every person in the State, including personal liberty, equality before the law, family and children’s rights, education rights, property rights, freedom of conscience and religion, and access to justice itself. These rights are not optional and are not granted by the courts; they are guaranteed by the State.

Despite this, citizens are required to pay significant court fees to enforce these constitutional guarantees, even where the State or a State body is the alleged wrongdoer. Under S.I. No. 492/2014 (Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court (Fees) Order 2014), fee exemptions operate in a way that favours the State — including where it litigates through the Attorney General or the Director of Public Prosecutions — creating an imbalance between the power of the State and the ability of ordinary people to hold it to account.

A constitutional guarantee that depends on a person’s ability to pay is not a real guarantee. Court fees and the risk of adverse costs have a chilling effect on citizens seeking to vindicate their fundamental rights, particularly in cases that raise genuine constitutional issues of public importance.

I am asking you to support reform so that:

  • No court fees apply in the Superior Courts where constitutional rights violations are alleged, and

  • Each side bears its own costs in such cases, where proceedings are brought in good faith.

I also ask that you contact the Minister for Justice and request legislative action to ensure equal access to the Superior Courts for the protection and vindication of all fundamental rights.

This is not a partisan issue. It concerns constitutional integrity, equality before the law, and public confidence in the justice system. I would appreciate knowing your position and whether you are willing to raise this matter within the Oireachtas.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Town / Constituency]



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Carlow-Kilkenny

Catherine Callaghan — catherine.callaghan@oireachtas.ie

Peter 'Chap' Cleere — peterchap.cleere@oireachtas.ie

John McGuinness — john.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor — jennifer.murnaneoconnor@oireachtas.ie

Natasha Newsome Drennan — natasha.newsomedrennan@oireachtas.ie


Cavan-Monaghan

Cathy Bennett — cathy.bennett@oireachtas.ie

Matt Carthy — matt.carthy@oireachtas.ie

David Maxwell — david.maxwell@oireachtas.ie

Brendan Smith — brendan.smith@oireachtas.ie

Niamh Smyth — niamh.smyth@oireachtas.ie


Clare

Joe Cooney — joe.cooney@oireachtas.ie

Cathal Crowe — cathal.crowe@oireachtas.ie

Timmy Dooley — timmy.dooley@oireachtas.ie

Donna McGettigan — donna.mcgettigan@oireachtas.ie


Cork East

Pat Buckley — pat.buckley@oireachtas.ie

Noel McCarthy — noel.mccarthy@oireachtas.ie

James O'Connor — james.oconnor@oireachtas.ie

Liam Quaide — liam.quaide@oireachtas.ie


Cork North-Central

Colm Burke — colm.burke@oireachtas.ie

Thomas Gould — thomas.gould@oireachtas.ie

Eoghan Kenny — eoghan.kenny@oireachtas.ie

Ken O'Flynn — ken.oflynn@oireachtas.ie

Pádraig O'Sullivan — padraig.osullivan@oireachtas.ie


Cork North-West

Aindrias Moynihan — aindrias.moynihan@oireachtas.ie

Michael Moynihan — michael.moynihan@oireachtas.ie

John Paul O'Shea — johnpaul.oshea@oireachtas.ie


Cork South-Central 

Jerry Buttimer — jerry.buttimer@oireachtas.ie

Micheál Martin — micheal.martin@oireachtas.ie

Séamus McGrath — seamus.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie

Pádraig Rice — padraig.rice@oireachtas.ie

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire — donnchadh.olaoghaire@oireachtas.ie


Cork South-West

Holly Cairns — holly.cairns@oireachtas.ie

Michael Collins — michael.collins@oireachtas.ie

Christopher O'Sullivan — christopher.osullivan@oireachtas.ie


Donegal

Pearse Doherty — pearse.doherty@oireachtas.ie

Pat the Cope Gallagher — patthecope.gallagher@oireachtas.ie

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn — padraig.maclochlainn@oireachtas.ie

Charlie McConalogue — charlie.mcconalogue@oireachtas.ie

Charles Ward — charles.ward@oireachtas.ie


Dublin Bay North

Tom Brabazon — tom.brabazon@oireachtas.ie

Barry Heneghan — barry.heneghan@oireachtas.ie

Denise Mitchell — denise.mitchell@oireachtas.ie

Cian O'Callaghan — cian.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie

Naoise Ó Muirí — naoise.omuiri@oireachtas.ie


Dublin Bay South

Ivana Bacik — ivana.bacik@oireachtas.ie

James Geoghegan — james.geoghegan@oireachtas.ie

Eoin Hayes — eoin.hayes@oireachtas.ie

Jim O'Callaghan — jim.ocallaghan@oireachtas.ie


Dublin Central

Gary Gannon — gary.gannon@oireachtas.ie

Mary Lou McDonald — marylou.mcdonald@oireachtas.ie

Marie Sherlock — marie.sherlock@oireachtas.ie


Dublin Fingal East

Ann Graves — ann.graves@oireachtas.ie

Darragh O'Brien — darragh.obrien@oireachtas.ie

Duncan Smith — duncan.smith@oireachtas.ie


Dublin Fingal West

Grace Boland — grace.boland@oireachtas.ie

Robert O'Donoghue — robert.odonoghue@oireachtas.ie

Louise O'Reilly — louise.oreilly@oireachtas.ie


Dublin Mid-West

Paul Nicholas Gogarty — paul.gogarty@oireachtas.ie

Emer Higgins — emer.higgins@oireachtas.ie

Shane Moynihan — shane.moynihan@oireachtas.ie

Mark Ward — mark.ward@oireachtas.ie

Eoin Ó Broin — eoin.obroin@oireachtas.ie


Dublin North-West

Dessie Ellis — dessie.ellis@oireachtas.ie

Rory Hearne — rory.hearne@oireachtas.ie

Paul McAuliffe — paul.mcauliffe@oireachtas.ie


Dublin Rathdown

Shay Brennan — shay.brennan@oireachtas.ie

Sinéad Gibney — sinead.gibney@oireachtas.ie

Maeve O'Connell — maeve.oconnell@oireachtas.ie

Neale Richmond — neale.richmond@oireachtas.ie


Dublin South-Central

Catherine Ardagh — catherine.ardagh@oireachtas.ie

Jen Cummins — jen.cummins@oireachtas.ie

Máire Devine — maire.devine@oireachtas.ie

Aengus Ó Snodaigh — aengus.osnodaigh@oireachtas.ie


Dublin South-West

Ciarán Ahern — ciaran.ahern@oireachtas.ie

Colm Brophy — colm.brophy@oireachtas.ie

Seán Crowe — sean.crowe@oireachtas.ie

John Lahart — john.lahart@oireachtas.ie

Paul Murphy — paul.murphy@oireachtas.ie


Dublin West

Jack Chambers — jack.chambers@oireachtas.ie

Ruth Coppinger — ruth.coppinger@oireachtas.ie

Emer Currie — emer.currie@oireachtas.ie

Paul Donnelly — paul.donnelly@oireachtas.ie

Roderic O'Gorman — roderic.ogorman@oireachtas.ie


Dún Laoghaire

Richard Boyd Barrett — richard.boydbarrett@oireachtas.ie

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill — jennifer.carrollmacneill@oireachtas.ie

Cormac Devlin — cormac@cormacdevlin.ie

Barry Ward — barry.ward@oireachtas.ie


Galway East 

Seán Canney — sean.canney@oireachtas.ie

Albert Dolan — albert.dolan@oireachtas.ie

Louis O'Hara — louis.ohara@oireachtas.ie

Peter Roche — peter.roche@oireachtas.ie


Galway West

John Connolly — john.connolly@oireachtas.ie

Mairéad Farrell — mairead.farrell@oireachtas.ie

Noel Grealish — noel.grealish@oireachtas.ie

Hildegarde Naughton — hildegarde.naughton@oireachtas.ie


Kerry

Michael Cahill — michael.cahill@oireachtas.ie

Pa Daly — pa.daly@oireachtas.ie

Norma Foley — norma.foley@oireachtas.ie

Danny Healy-Rae — danny.healy-rae@oireachtas.ie

Michael Healy-Rae — michael.healy-rae@oireachtas.ie


Kildare North

Réada Cronin — reada.cronin@oireachtas.ie

Aidan Farrelly — aidan.farrelly@oireachtas.ie

James Lawless — james.lawless@oireachtas.ie

Joe Neville — joe.neville@oireachtas.ie

Naoise Ó Cearúil — naoise.ocearuil@oireachtas.ie


Kildare South

Martin Heydon — martin.heydon@oireachtas.ie

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh — shonagh.niraghallaigh@oireachtas.ie

Mark Wall — mark.wall@oireachtas.ie

Seán Ó Fearghaíl — sean.ofearghail@oireachtas.ie


Laois

William Aird — william.aird@oireachtas.ie

Sean Fleming — sean.fleming@oireachtas.ie

Brian Stanley — brian.stanley@oireachtas.ie


Limerick City

Willie O'Dea — willie.odea@oireachtas.ie

Kieran O'Donnell — kieran.odonnell@oireachtas.ie

Maurice Quinlivan — maurice.quinlivan@oireachtas.ie

Conor Sheehan — conor.sheehan@oireachtas.ie


Limerick County

Niall Collins — niall.collins@oireachtas.ie

Richard O'Donoghue — richard.odonoghue@oireachtas.ie

Patrick O'Donovan — patrick.odonovan@oireachtas.ie


Longford-Westmeath

Peter Burke — peter.burke@oireachtas.ie

Micheál Carrigy — micheal.carrigy@oireachtas.ie

Sorca Clarke — sorca.clarke@oireachtas.ie

Kevin Boxer Moran — kevinboxer.moran@oireachtas.ie

Robert Troy — robert.troy@oireachtas.ie


Louth

Paula Butterly — paula.butterly@oireachtas.ie

Joanna Byrne — joanna.byrne@oireachtas.ie

Erin McGreehan — erin.mcgreehan@oireachtas.ie

Ged Nash — gerald.nash@oireachtas.ie

Ruairí Ó Murchú — ruairi.omurchu@oireachtas.ie


Mayo

Dara Calleary — dara.calleary@oireachtas.ie

Rose Conway-Walsh — rose.conwaywalsh@oireachtas.ie

Alan Dillon — alan.dillon@oireachtas.ie

Keira Keogh — keira.keogh@oireachtas.ie

Paul Lawless — paul.lawless@oireachtas.ie


Meath East

Thomas Byrne — thomas.byrne@oireachtas.ie

Helen McEntee — helen.mcentee@oireachtas.ie

Darren O'Rourke — darren.orourke@oireachtas.ie

Gillian Toole — gillian.toole@oireachtas.ie


Meath West

Aisling Dempsey — aisling.dempsey@oireachtas.ie

Johnny Guirke — johnny.guirke@oireachtas.ie

Peadar Tóibín — peadar.toibin@oireachtas.ie


Offaly 

John Clendennen — john.clendennen@oireachtas.ie

Tony McCormack — tony.mccormack@oireachtas.ie

Carol Nolan — carol.nolan@oireachtas.ie


Roscommon-Galway

Martin Daly — martin.daly@oireachtas.ie

Michael Fitzmaurice — michael.fitzmaurice@oireachtas.ie

Claire Kerrane — claire.kerrane@oireachtas.ie


Sligo-Leitrim

Frankie Feighan — frank.feighan@oireachtas.ie

Marian Harkin — marian.harkin@oireachtas.ie

Martin Kenny — martin.kenny@oireachtas.ie

Eamon Scanlon — eamon.scanlon@oireachtas.ie


Tipperary North

Alan Kelly — alan.kelly@oireachtas.ie

Michael Lowry — michael.lowry@oireachtas.ie

Ryan O'Meara — ryan.omeara@oireachtas.ie


Tipperary South

Seamus Healy — seamus.healy@oireachtas.ie

Mattie McGrath — mattie.mcgrath@oireachtas.ie

Michael Murphy — michael.murphy@oireachtas.ie


Waterford

Mary Butler — mary.butler@oireachtas.ie

David Cullinane — david.cullinane@oireachtas.ie

John Cummins — john.cummins@oireachtas.ie

Conor D McGuinness — conor.mcguinness@oireachtas.ie


Wexford

James Browne — james.browne@oireachtas.ie

George Lawlor — george.lawlor@oireachtas.ie

Verona Murphy — verona.murphy@oireachtas.ie

Johnny Mythen — johnny.mythen@oireachtas.ie


Wicklow

John Brady — john.brady@oireachtas.ie

Simon Harris — simon.harris@oireachtas.ie

Edward Timmins — edward.timmins@oireachtas.ie

Jennifer Whitmore — jennifer.whitmore@oireachtas.ie


Wicklow-Wexford

Brian Brennan — brian.brennan@oireachtas.ie

Malcolm Byrne — malcolm.byrne@oireachtas.ie

Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin — fionntan.osuilleabhain@oireachtas.ie

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