The Gazette 1987

GAZETTE

APRIL 1987

Industrial Engineer

Quantity Surveyor

Economist

Occupational Therapist

Speech Pathologist

Radiographer

Pastry Cook

Furniture Polisher

Actuary

Employer Nomi na t i on

Scheme: —

It really must be shown that

Australia's labour pool is unable to

fill the employer's needs and the

vacancy must be:

a) genuine.

b) The employment must be full-

time and permanent.

c) The proposed migrant must be

experienced (3— 5 years of on-

the-job training).

3 . Business Mi g r a t i on

This is confined to those going to

Australia to expand business there.

Proposed migrants must have a

successful business record, feasi-

ble business plans of potential

benefit to Australia and sufficient

capital to establish themselves.

4 . Re t i r ement Mi g r a t i on

People who wish to retire in

Australia must be over 55 and have

adequate funds.

5 . Spec i al Eligibility Mi g r a t i on

Consideration will be given to peo-

ple with a record of achievement in

creative or sporting activities

which would be seen as benefitting

Australia.

6 .

R e f u g e es

a nd

S p e c i al

Human i t a r i an Mi g r a t i on.

It should be borne in mind that

migration visas take a very long

time to process.

Readers are reminded of

something which was mentioned in

the earlier article —applications for

a migration visa for an Irish solicitor

should come from the employer in

Australia. An Irish solicitor seeking

to work as a solicitor in Australia

has little hope of a successful

outcome to his application — made

through the Australian Embassy,

Fitzwilton House, Wilton Terrace,

Dublin2 —unless he or she marries

an Australian.

I am indebted to Mr. Gavin Buckley

of Mallesons, Stephen, Jacques for

up-to-the-minute information on

the migration scene.

•

V . A . T.

blocks access to

Cour ts

VAT, in some instances, has

created inequality in the right

of access to the Courts, said

the President of the Law

Society, Mr. David Pigot, when

addressing new solicitors at the

Parchment Presentation ceremony

in March,

"It is obvious that the imposition

of VAT greatly increased the cost,

to clients not registered for VAT,

of legal representation and advice

. . . In rough and ready terms the

cost of access to the Courts for a

person registered for VAT is

approximately 20% less than for a

person who is not. I suggest that

in these circumstances the tax is

discriminatory against persons

who are not registered for VAT

and that, as all our citizens

should be entitled to equal

opportunity of access to the

Courts, the application of VAT to

solicitors' costs is arguably un-

constitutional, at least in some

instances."

He urged the Government to

bring in legislation which would

have the effect of abolishing VAT

on Solicitors' Costs certainly

in contentious matters in the

Courts.

The President added: "VAT is by

far the greatest single factor in

increasing the total amount of legal

costs paid by insurance companies

in recent years in Personal Injury

Ac t i ons, a factor that has

necessarily resulted in increased

insurance premiums to the public

at large."

Commenting on conveyancing,

the President said that an inhibiting

factor in the transfer of property is

the high level of Stamp Duty. It is

on a sliding scale, but the scale has

not been altered for many years.

As the scale provides for a higher

rate as the value of the property

increases, the effect of inflation

has been to increase the amount of

Stamp Duty by a factor greater

than inflation.

" I therefore urge the Govern-

ment to widen the bands, thereby

reducing the incidence of Stamp

Duty on residential properties in

particular. This hopefully would

help to stimulate what has been a

very poor market for several years."

Law Reform Commi ss ion

A reception was held recently to

mark the appointment of Mr.

Justice Ronan Keane as the new

President of the Commission, as

well as the appointment of new

Commissioners. In the May issue

of the Gazette, we intend to

publish an abridged text of the

address of the Taoiseach, Charles

J. Haughey, T.D., and of the

speech of the President.

As well as Mr. Justice Ronan

Keane, the other members of the

Commission are:

Simon P. O'Leary, former Senior

Legal Assistant to the Director of

Public Prosecutions;

John Buckley, Solicitor, partner

in Messrs. Hickey Beauchamp,

Kirwan & O'Reilly, former Junior

Vice-President of the Law Society;

William Duncan, Senior Lecturer

in Law and Registrar of Trinity

College, Dublin;

Maureen Gaffney, Senior Clinical

Psychologist, Eastern Health

Board, Course Organiser, E.H.B./

Trinity College Training Scheme in

Clinical Psychology.

In Brief

)

Food for Thought?

In the Central Criminal Court

recently, a jury returned a verdict

of not guilty on a Dublin restaurant

proprietor charged with falsely

imprisoning a patron of the

restaurant, who tendered a cheque

in payment of a bill amounting to

over £150.00. The defendant was

alleged to have detained the

customer and some of his party

from 11.45 p.m. until 4.20 a.m.,

while

argument

took

place

concerning payment of the bill. The

defendant called the Gardai who

appear to have taken the view that

the defendant was not entitled to

detain the people concerned. The

jury's verdict was unanimous, but

reports so far available do not

relate whether the bill was

ultimately paid!

(Contd. on p.87)