The Law Society has questioned the staffing and resources provided to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following the freeing of a prisoner because a book of evidence was not produced on time.
The solicitors' representative body said there was "certainly a perception among criminal law practitioners that there were resource problems in the DPP's office".
Ken Murphy, Law Society director general, said there would be a greater compliance with the 42-day time limit for preparing a book of evidence if the office was better staffed and had more resources.
He said it was exceptionally rare for a case to be struck out because the time limit had elapsed as judges had the discretion to extend the time limit.
"The Law Society would like to see greater resources made available to staff, particularly legal staff, in the DPP's office to assist them to discharge their onerous and growing workload," Mr Murphy said.
On Monday RTÉ reported that murder and manslaughter suspect Gregory Conway (36) had been freed from custody by Cloverhill District Court on the previous Friday because the DPP's office had failed to produce the book of evidence on time despite being warned about the issue.
Gregory Conway, with a Dundalk address, had been charged with the murder of Liam Maguire in Dundalk in June. When he was arrested for this crime it emerged that he was wanted in Limerick, where he had absconded on bail after being charged with the manslaughter of Denis Quinlivan in Limerick in 1991.
In July he was granted a judicial review of the manslaughter charge after he argued that he could not get a fair trail after such a long passage of time. That case is listed for mention in Limerick Circuit Court in October.
A Garda spokesman said last night that gardaí were still in discussion with the DPP's office to re-enter the murder charge at a later date.
Fine Gael spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said there was serious public concern about this case.
"This is a quite extraordinary case. How did this happen? An explanation must be provided."
A spokeswoman for the DPP's office said the office could not comment on individual cases, and would not be making any comment on staffing or resource issues.
A Government spokesman said: "The general issue of resources for the office of the DPP is subject to ongoing review.
"Any request for additional resources would be considered on its merits and is addressed each year in the context of the estimates process."
Last month the DPP, James Hamilton, called for the setting up of a dedicated legal policy unit within his office. He said staff were increasingly being asked to address legal policy matters but were too busy with their daily prosecution and court work.
