156 / 432
GAZETTE
APRIL
1994
of the Law Schools in the Universities
had produced a paper arguing in
favour of this view. He believed that
the Law Society was under pressure to
respond to this. The Council took the
view that it would not be possible to
formulate a concrete response before
the outcome of the Solicitors
(Amendment) Bill, 1994, but that the
Society should continue to defend its
own role in the professional training
of solicitors.
The Chairman of the Education
Committee reported to Council that
some universities were now seeking
exemption from the FE-1 for new law
degrees they had introduced, for
example, mixing law and languages.
The Education Committee, he said,
was disposed to exempting the
degrees subject to a proper system of
certification being in place i.e. that the
universities would certify that the
course content was in accordance with
the syllabus laid down by the Law
Society. The Council decided that this
matter needed further consideration
and it was adjourned to the next
meeting.
Consumer Credit Bill
Elma Lynch,
Chairman of the
Parliamentary Committee, reported
that the Consumer Credit Bill was
currently being debated in Dail
Eireann. The Bill had been examined
by the Company Law Committee and
a submission had been made to the
Department of Enterprise and
Employment. In particular,
representations were made concerning
the definition of "mortgage
intermediary" in section 96 of the Bill
as there was concern that solicitors
might fall within the definition. There
was similar concern about the
definition of "credit intermediary" in
section 2. She reported that the
Society had sought an exemption for
solicitors from the scope of both
definitions.
Proposal To 'Cap' Personal Injury
Awards
The Director General reported on a
meeting that he and the President had
had with an official of the Department
of Industry and Commerce, at which
they had pointed out the difficulties
the Society foresaw in trying to devise
a system of capping compensation
awards that would be fair or workable.
The Society had discussed a number
of other measures that could be taken
to reduce the cost of insurance in this
country. The President and the
Director General had reiterated fully
the Society's opposition to any
proposals to limit compensation
awards.
The Director General also reported
that he and the President had met with
the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. It
had been a useful meeting and the
ICTU officials had made it clear that
they were not in favour of reducing
compensation levels but had indicated
that they were seeking a change in the
law so that compensation payable to a
worker would not be reduced where it
was found that the worker had
contributed to an accident by his own
negligence. They favoured in
principle the introduction of a no-fault
system of compensation.
Half-Yearly General Meeting of
the Society
The Council considered three motions
which had been set down by members j
of the profession for debate under
special business at the Half-yearly
General Meeting which would be held
at the Annual Conference of the
Society on 12 May. It was noted, in
relation to the first motion, which
I
sought to discuss the substantial
increase in the membership
subscription/registration fee for the
current year, that the accounts for
1993 had been finalised and were
being circulated to all members of the
profession along with an explanatory
memorandum from the Chairman of
the Finance Committee.
Commenting on the second special
business motion, which sought to
discuss any change of annual
contribution to the Compensation
Fund whereby different classes of
solicitors would contribute at different
rates, the President of the Society
noted that at the Committee Stage of
the debate on the Solicitors
(Amendment) Bill, 1994, there would
be a motion from the Opposition to
delete section 30(2) of the Bill that
would permit the Society to prescribe
different rates of contribution to the
Fund in relation to any class of
solicitor. The President noted that it
was the policy of the Council to
oppose different rates of contribution
to the Fund.
The third motion of special business
sought to discuss the concept of fee-
sharing arrangements between
solicitors and persons not qualified to
practise as solicitors. The Council
noted that there continued to be strong
opposition in the profession to the
introduction of provisions that would
permit the establishment of multi-
disciplinary partnerships.
a
B e t t e r l i g h t a c a n d l e
t h a n c u r s e t h e
d a r k n e s s
Muriel O'Donnell,
Solicitor, is
involved in fundraising efforts to
provide aid in Bosnia. She writes:
"Richard Hunt
and
Martin Keogh
are
both unemployed professional drivers.
Early last year, having watched on
television the horrific scenes in
Bosnia, they bought a 12 year old
ambulance, filled it with supplies
donated by the public and drove
it into the middle of the war zone.
They have now completed six
deliveries of much-needed aid and are
planning a seventh journey as soon as
sufficient funds can be raised. Medical
supplies are extremely scarce.
A bottle of Calpol (used to treat fever
in children) can fetch £70 on the
black market. Antibiotics are like
gold dust.
A fund-raising effort is under way. A
quiz night will be held in the
Presidents' Hall, The Law Society on
18 May at 8 pm (£24 per table of 4).
Please send what you can to Non-Stop
Aid, Bank of Ireland, Rathcoole,
A/c No. 41328723, sort code 901298."
Muriel O 'Donnell, Solicitor.
•
132