The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

M E

W A

M A Y 1994

Scope of Legal

Ad j ud i ca t or Cr i t i cised

A call by the Irish Farm Family

Therapy Group (IFFTG), to the Junior

Minister for Justice,

Willie O'Dea,

TD, to withdraw the Solicitors

(Amendment) Bill, 1994 because the

Bill provided for a Legal Adjudicator

who would be appointed by the Law

Society and not an independent Legal

Ombudsman, was reported in the

Sunday Press

of 13 March 1994. The

Minister and

Ted Cunningham,

PRO

of the IFFTG, debated the issue on the

Pat Kenny Show

on RTE Radio One

on 14 March. Mr. O'Dea defended the

provisions concerning the Legal

Adjudicator and rejected IFFTG

criticism that the provision would

permit the Adjudicator to deal only

with complaints that were referred to

him within two years of the

determination of the complaint by the

Law Society. Mr. O'Dea claimed that

if a longer period were permitted it

could lead to the Adjudicator being

swamped and thus unable to deal

effectively with the matters referred to

him. The IFFTG was reported in the

Evening Herald

of 29 March as

calling for the appointment of a Legal

Ombudsman and the paper also

reported that the Group was supported

by Fine Gael TDs,

Bernard Allen

and

Gay Mitchell.

Deputy Allen was

quoted as saying "the days when any

profession can regulate itself are long

gone . . . The Law Society is a trade

union for solicitors and it should not

adjudicate on its own members."

Deputy Mitchell said that the

Adjudicator should not be paid for by

the Law Society.

The IFFTG also criticised the cap on

Compensation Fund claims provided

for in the Bill. On the

Pat Kenny

Radio Show

the Junior Minister

pointed out that to date no individual

client had claimed a sum of more than

£250,000 but said he was open to

reconsidering the level of the cap

provided for in the Bill.

The

Cork Examiner

and

Daily Star

13 March reported on a picket on the

Dáil by the IFFTG to highlight its

dissatisfaction with the provisions in

the Bill concerning the Legal

Adjudicator and the cap on the

Compensation Fund. In the article, a

spokesperson for the Law Society was

quoted as saying "the Law Society

takes its responsibilities to regulate

the profession very seriously and we

are talking only about a small number

of people in the profession who fall

below the high standards required."

An article by a private citizen,

Celine

Hussey,

criticising the Solicitors Bill,

was published in the

Irish Times

on 22

April. She argued that the entire Bill

should be withdrawn and replaced

with one that paid serious regard to

protecting clients interests and

provided for a workable system of

complaints by way of a Legal

Ombudsman paid by the State, which

would reduce or even eliminate the

Law Society's power to determine

clients' complaints. In an article in the

Irish Times

of 26 April, the Minister

of State at the Department of Justice,

Willie O'Dea TD, defended the Bill.

He said he believed that the many

provisions in the Bill, which were

aimed at benefiting clients, would

help to restore public confidence in

the complaints machinery for the

profession which was "unfortunately

lacking at present".

Proposal to 'Cap' Personal Injury

Awards

The

Irish Independent

of 24 February

and the

Daily Star

of 25 February

reported that, according to the latest

figures from the Department of

Enterprise and Employment, the

average cost of motor insurance

claims in Ireland was more than four

times that of the UK. The article in the

Independent

said that it was

understood that the Minister of State

for Commerce and Technology,

Seamus Brennan

TD, intended to

introduce a schedule of damages for

specific injuries. The article quoted

Aidan Cassells,

Chief Executive of the

Irish Insurance Federation, as saying

that our insurance premiums were

likely to stay well ahead of the

European average until Mr. Brennan

made progress on his proposed cap on

personal injury awards. Both articles

noted that the Law Society had

signalled strong resistance to any

capping of court awards.

Inside Business,

the journal of the

Chambers of Commerce in Ireland,

published an article in its April issue

in which the Minister for Commerce

and Technology and the Director

General of the Law Society set out

their views on the proposal to 'cap'

personal injury awards. The Minister

argued that insurance costs were a

major penalty on Irish firms and

adversely impacted on their

competitiveness and ability to create

and sustain employment. He said that

he would not proceed with his

initiative unless he was satisfied that

significant savings could be achieved

and would be passed on to policy

holders.

Noel Ryan

reiterated the Law

Society's view that 'capping' of

compensation awards was not the

right approach because it would be

unjust to victims of accidents.

He said that before the Minister

published his proposals, he must

explain precisely how he could

guarantee to the Irish public that

insurance costs would come down if

awards were reduced.

The national daily newspapers on 23

April quoted the President of the

Chambers of Commerce in Ireland,

Dr.

Pat Loughrey,

as saying that pain and

suffering awards which represented

about 80% of personal injuries costs

were out of line with Europe and

should be capped. He asked: "how can

Ireland claim its right to structural

funds on the basis of our low income

per capita and then pay out awards on

insurance claims three and four times

the amounts of our wealthier European

neighbours?" He welcomed Minister

Brennan's proposal but noted that the

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