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GAZETTE
COR R E S PONDp i tE
The Editor,
The Gazette,
Blackhall Place,
Dublin 7.
Dear Colleague,
Re: Association of
Personal Injury Lawyers
Last October a meeting was held in
London to see whether or not there
would be a demand for the in-
auguration of a new Association
known as the Association of
Personal Injury Lawyers.
The impetus for the creation of
such an Association came about
following the Winter Convention of
the Association of Trial Lawyers of
America who held their Convention
in London in January of 1989. Such
was their inspiration that a found-
ing group of practitioners prepared
a preliminary discussion document
which was unanimously adopted
by a meeting of practitioners from
all over the United Kingdom last
October.
The meeting elected a Steering
Committee to bring the new
Association into being and it is
intended that it will represent
practitioners and other interested
participants in England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland, the
Republic of Ireland, the Channel
Islands and the Isle of Man.
I was asked to represent "the
Irish connection" on the Steering
Committee and part of my respon-
sibility is to ensure that members
of the Solicitors' Branch of the
Profession, together with Barris-
ters, Academics and Student
Members are properly advised of
the proposed existence of the
Association.
I outline, in brief, the objects of
the Association which are:-
(a) The promotion of proper and
fair compensation for all types
of personal injury.
(b) To foster the role of the legal
process in the promotion of
safety, particularly safety for
consumers in the workplace, in
the use of products and trans-
port, and in all places of public
meeting.
(c) To promote and develop exper-
tise i n the practice of personal
injury law by education and the
exchange of information and
knowledge.
The Association is intended to
represent Lawyers who practise
predominantly in matters relating to
the well-being of the Plaintiff and
others whose views are sym-
pathetic to the proposed objects.
It is envisaged that the inaugural
meeting of the new Association
will take place in April of 1990 and
it is hoped that there will be a
strong Irish representation in its
Membership.
The intention is to have an
organisation which, in principle, is
not dissimilar to that of the
American Trial Lawyers Association
which, I am sure, many of you will
appreciate is a substantial organisa-
tion responsible for many advances
in the areas of Law Reform and the
Administration of Justice. It is felt
by the Steering Committee that the
new Association will blossom into
a powerful force for those objects
outlined herewith.
Mundane matters such as sub-
scription rates etc. together with a
comprehensive list of the benefits
will be made available at the
inaugural meeting in April. How-
ever, in the interim, it would be of
great benefit to the Committee if
we had, at least, some indication of
the volume of support we would be
likely to achieve throughout the
various regions in the home
Countries, therefore, all you are
required to do in the first instance
is to write to me simply indicating
an interest and thereafter you will
be properly advised and kept
informed of developments as they
occur.
It is right for me to say, having
been involved in preliminary dis-
cussions, that plans are both
exciting and innovative and would
well merit the support of as many
of our colleagues
as
are
sympathetic to the aims of the
Association.
On hearing from you, I will keep
you advised of developments as
they occur and take this oppor-
tunity of thanking you in
anticipation of your support.
Yours faithfully,
FRANCIS J. HANNA
Solicitor,
Hampton House,
53 High Street,
Belfast BT1 2AB,
Northern Ireland.
'
APRIL
1990
Mr. James J. Ivers
Director General,
The Law Society,
Blackhall Place,
Dublin 7.
17th January 1990
Re: Social Insurance Contributions
for the Self-Employed
Dear Mr. Ivers,
One of the issues which you
raised in your letter is the question
of self-employed persons who were
over 56 years of age when social
insurance became compulsory for
the self-employed in April 1988.
Self-employment contributions pro-
vide cover for old age (contributory)
pension and for widow's and
orphan's (contributory) pensions.
One of the qualifying conditions for
the old age (contributory) pension
is that the claimant must have
commenced paying social insur-
ance contributions at least 10 years
before reaching pension age i.e.
before they reach 56 years. This
requirement has applied since the
old age (contributory) pension
scheme was introduced in 1961
and is applied equally to employed
contributors and to self-employed
contributors.
Self-employed persons who are
over the age of 56 years on enter-
ing insurance will, however, be able
to build up entitlement to widow's
(contributory) pension after three
years insurance. Furthermore, their
insurance as self-employed persons
can also be combined with any
previous insurance they may have
had as employees and as voluntary
contributors to establish entitle-
ment to either the old age or
widow's pension.
The question of making special
provision to enable self-employed
contributors who commence pay-
ing social insurance contributions
after reaching 56 years of age to
qualify for old age (contributory)
pensions has been examined within
the Department but the potential
costs of such provisions would be
prohibitive.
Under the existing arrangements
employed contributors who enter
insurance after reaching 56 years
of age are entitled to a refund of the
old age (contributory) pension ele-
ment of the PRSI contribution. In
the course of introducing the
scheme of social insurance for the
self-employed the Minister for
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