The Gazette 1993

VOL.

NO.

JULY/AUGUST 1993

Southern Law Association, West Cork

Bar Association and from Louth,

Tipperary and Dublin, spoke in favour of

the motion and praised the work of the

Taxation Committee. One of these

speakers said that solicitors knew when

to fight and when to settle and, having

put up a good fight on this issue, it was

now time to settle. A speaker from

Dublin supported "the realistic, practical

approach" taken by the Taxation

Committee. The speaker asked whether

there had been any concessions sought

by the Society which were not obtained.

The Chairman of the Taxation

Committee confirmed that nearly all

concessions sought had been obtained

except on some minor points.

Status of Assurances on

Confidentiality

A member of the profession expressed

doubt about the status of "assurances"

from the Revenue Commissioners about

confidentiality and their assurances than

an inadvertent error would not trigger

an audit. He asked if the Society was

sufficiently confident in the assurances

of the Revenue Commissioners that, in

the event the assurances did not stand

up, it would be prepared to back any

solicitor who was prosecuted for

refusing to divulge confidential client

information. Another solicitor expressed

concern that the assurances about

confidentiality had not been written into

the Act and felt that the profession

should not cease to oppose the

legislation until such time as the

Finance Act, 1992 was amended to

include a provision which explicitly

secured confidentiality. The President of

the Society stated his view that the

assurances from the Revenue Com-

missioners could be relied upon and,

if the Revenue Commissioners looked

for more information than had been

agreed, then the Society would support

any solicitor who resisted such

a move.

Reservations

A number of speakers were critical of

the motion and argued that the

profession should continue to oppose

the legislation. One practitioner from

Dublin said that he felt betrayed. The

legislation breached the fundamental

principle which distinguished solicitors

from other professions which was

solicitor/client confidentiality. Solicitors

had always stood alone and had always

upheld total confidentiality. He said

support for the motion would be tanta-

mount to voting to hand over

confidential information about clients to

the Revenue Commissioners. The

President of the DSBA said he had very

strong reservations about complying

with the legislation.

A past President of the Society said it

was unfair to talk of betrayal. He said

he believed the reporting requirements

would not impinge on the

solicitor/client relationship, provided

that the client was made aware of the

situation. He had never known the

Revenue Commissioners to renege or

back track on an assurance given in

negotiations.

Participants at the meeting also raised a

number of practical queries about how

the concessions would be applied and

expressed the desire to receive detailed

information on the legislation from the

Law Society. A solicitor from Sligo

stated that such guidance was essential

because complying with the legislation

would bring about a unilateral change in

the contractual nature of the

solicitor/client relationship and clients

should be notified about this. He, and a

number of other speakers, expressed the

view that more information about

discussions with the Revenue

Commissioners should have been

circulated to the profession before the

meeting. The Chairman of the Taxation

Committee, Frank Daly, assured those

present that the Society would supply a

briefing document.

Motion passed

Following the discussion, a substantial

majority of those present voted in

favour of the motion:-

"that having regard to the legal

advice obtained by the Society in

relation to the provisions of Part VII

of the Finance Act, 1992, and to the

outcome of discussions with the

Revenue Commissioners on this

matter and in particular to the

undertakings and assurances given by

the Revenue on the question of

solicitor/client confidentiality

and the practice concessions

obtained by the Society for the

benefit of the profession, this Special

General Meeting sees no sustainable

basis upon which the Society can

continue to oppose the reporting

requirements in Part VII of

the Act."

Barbara Cahalane

•

Doyle Court Reporters

Principal:

Álne O'Farrell

Court and Conference Verbatim Reporting Specialists in

Overnight Transcription - Personal Injury Judgements

Trinity and Michaelmas Terms 1992 - Now Ready

•

x ^ y

Consultation Room Available

2, Arran Quay, Dublin 7.

Tel: 8722833 or 2862097

(Alloc Hours)

Fax: 8724486

Mary McKeon

Mark McArtain

F^ccííence in Sporting

since 1954

Congratulatsions to our reporters, Mary McKeon and Mark Mac Artain who have recently passed the Registered Professional

Reporter exam. Together with their colleagues, Mary O'Sullivan and Tina Kenny, they are the only people in Ireland who have

achieved this standard which involves writing at a speed of 225 words per minute.

208