The entitlement of suspects to have a solicitor present during garda interviews needs to be enshrined in legislation, a conference in Dublin has heard.
Organised by the Socio-Legal Research Centre at Dublin City University and the Law Society, the conference heard there was "an alarmingly low" rate of solicitors attending interviews with their clients.
Since 2014 the Director of Public Prosecutions has permitted solicitors to attend interviews in garda stations.
Previously, suspects were only allowed to take legal advice before interviews began.
Dr Vicky Conway, a DCU law professor who specialises in policing issues said only 7-8% of garda interviews are attended by solicitors.
The figures for England and Wales are more than this, she said.
Dr Conway has been involved in a pilot project involving Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Hungary to develop a training programme for defence solicitors.
Executive Director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties Liam Herrick told the conference it was "not the case that Government has always been in favour of garda reform."
He said resistance had been the dominant theme in the past. Mr Herrick however there was a "positive dynamic for change within the gardaí" and individual gardaí had played a leadership role in training and policy around human rights.
He said developments in recent years however were not on their own sufficient. There was an absence of legislative change to underpin the rights of those in custody, he said adding that good practice and good guidelines could be eroded without a clear legal foundation.
Detective Inspector Enda Mulryan, the Garda National Interview Advisor outlined a number of measures employed during Garda interviews and the training provided to gardaí, including specialist interviewing skills.
He said in all aspects gardaí "were conscious to provide any information as long as it does not impede an investigation".
He said gardaí and the Law Society were in discussions regarding a European Union directive on the rights of a suspect to have a lawyer present during interview.
The conference also heard that extended detention times - in some cases up to seven days - presented a practical difficulty for solicitors to attend interviews at Garda stations.
Separate research has also identified issues surrounding the treatment and identification of suspects who may be vulnerable, the conference heard.
Defence Solicitor Shalom Binchy said the rights of suspects were significantly strengthened by the introduction in 1997 of videotaping garda interviews which she described as a "seismic change".
When the DPP introduced the ad hoc right to a solicitor in interviews "overnight solicitors were expected to attend, with no training, no time and enormous pressure on practices."
However she said the benefits to a client to have a solicitor present at interviews were significant.
Ms Binchy supported calls for legislation in the area and also said the selection process for solicitors at Garda stations needed to be changed.
She said it was "simply wrong" that gardaí could choose the solicitor called to the station where a suspect did not nominate a particular solicitor.
"That someone who is prosecuting a case can also choose who defends it is wrong," she said.
