The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

MARCH 1994

P u b l i c a t i on o f S o l i c i t o r s

( A m e n d m e n t ) B i l l , 1 9 9 4

Government to drop sections on

probate and conveyancing by banks

As we go to press, the indications are

that the Government will drop the

controversial sections of the recently

published Solicitors (Amendment)

Bill, 1994 which would have

permitted banks and other institutions

to have engaged in probate and

conveyancing work. Following a

meeting of the Fianna Fail

Parliamentary Party on 23 February,

at which strong opposition to those

sections was expressed, the Minister

of State at the Department of Justice,

Willie O'Dea

TD, was reported in the

Irish Times

of 24 February as agreeing

that the section should be dropped.

The

Irish Times

also noted that the

Taoiseach had expressed reservations

about the provisions. The Minister of

State was interviewed on

Morning

Ireland

RTE 1 on 24 February and

said he was "re-thinking" the

provisions. He noted that there was

now a much greater number of

solicitors in practice than at the time

when the Fair Trade Commission had

made its recommendations that banks !

and other financial institutions should

be allowed to provide conveyancing

[

and probate services.

All the daily papers on 10 February

reported on the publication of the Bill,

focusing in particular on the

Protections for clients in the

legislation. The newspapers reported

the Minister for Justice,

Mrs.

°ghegan-Quinn,

TD, as describing

the Bill as "a major consumer-driven

legislative reform measure." The

Minister had said that she was

satisfied that the consumer protection

Provisions were warranted by the

behaviour of some solicitors who had

damaged the profession's reputation.

An editorial in the

Irish Independent

°f that day entitled "Tough But

Justified" said it was regrettable that

the conduct of a "rogue" minority of

solicitors had damaged the reputation

of the honest and competent majority

and necessitated the undoubtedly

severe provisions contained in the

measure. "But the public must have

protection. The Bill supplies it."

The Minister of State at the

Department of Justice,

Willie O'Dea

TD, and the Director General of the

Society,

Noel Ryan

, were interviewed

Morning Ireland

RTE Radio 1 on

10 February. The Minister of State

highlighted the consumer protection

elements of the Bill.

Noel Ryan

stated

that the Society welcomed, and had,

indeed, sought many of the provisions

in the Bill but he criticised the

provisions that would allow

conveyancing and probate work to be

done by financial institutions. He

argued that there was already

sufficient competition within the

solicitors' profession and,

furthermore, that the protection in the

Bill for clients who would avail of

these services from financial

institutions were inadequate. There

was no evidence of any demand from

the public for these services to be

opened up to financial institutions.

The Minister of State and the Director

General were also interviewed on the

RTE TV lunchtime and evening news

bulletins.

The Society's statement in response to

the Bill, welcoming certain aspects of

the legislation, particularly the limit of

£250,000 on claims on the Compensa-

tion Fund, but opposing the provisions

concerning fee advertising,

conveyancing and probate and

objecting to the Society having to pay

for the Legal Adjudicator, was covered

extensively in the

Irish Times

and

Irish Press

of 11 February and

mentioned briefly in the

Irish

Independent

and

Cork Examiner

that day.

The

Sunday Business Post

of 13

February noted that the Law Society

intended to continue to campaign

against the provisions in the Bill that

would permit financial institutions to

provide conveyancing and probate

services and that the Society was also

opposed to the provision which would

permit fees advertising.

The

Irish Independent

and

Irish Press

of 17 February reported that the

Government was reconsidering the

provision which would place a limit of

£250,000 on claims on the

Compensation Fund. The articles

reported that "Junior Justice Minister,

Willie O'Dea

TD, had disclosed" that

the Government was reconsidering the

provision in the light of reaction from

consumer groups and might increase

the limit to £lm.

Proposal to Cap Personal Injuries

Awards

The RTE

Tuesday File

programme

broadcast on 1 February 1994

examined the growth in personal

injuries litigation, the effect of awards

on motor insurance premiums and the

proposal to place a limit on the

amount that could be awarded in

compensation for pain and suffering

in personal injury claims. The

Director General of the Society,

Noel Ryan

, was interviewed and said

the profession "would go to the wire" j

in opposition to the proposal. He

defended the right of people who had

been injured through no fault of their

own to be compensated adequately

and stated that Irish levels of

compensation were fair.

The

Cork Examiner

of 5 February

reported briefly on an address to a

recent Parchment Ceremony by the

President of the Society,

Michael V.

O'Mahony,

in which he had reiterated

the Society's opposition to the

"capping" proposal. The Society's

stance was supported by an editorial

in the

Clare Champion

on 11 February