The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

JULY/AUGUST 1993

Campaign Against Probate Tax

Continues

A regular column which examines

issues reported in the media

concerning the Law Society and the

solicitors' profession.

Alliance Against Probate Tax

The continuing campaign by the

Alliance Against Probate Tax, which

comprises ten organisations including

the Law Society, received substantial

coverage particularly in the regional

newspapers. Most of the provincial

newspapers published during the week

of 7-14 June, 1993, reported that Law

Society President,

Raymond

Monahan

, foresaw serious financial

and legal difficulties arising out of the

tax, and the view of the IFA President,

Alan Gillis,

that opposition to the new

probate tax was clearly intense and

was continuing to grow. Most of the

papers also reprinted in full the joint

declaration by the Alliance which

called on the Minister for Finance to

abolish the tax.

On the RTE Radio

This Week

programme on Sunday, 13 June, 1993,

Ciaran Keys

of the Law Society's

Taxation Committee, warned about the

impact of the tax on clients, and that it

would make people less likely to have

estates administered. On the same

programme the Minister for Finance,

Bertie Ahern

, said that the probate tax

would not result in the double taxation

of estates and that it was a step

forward in terms of tax reform because

it widened the tax base. A statement

by the Alliance Against Probate Tax

refuting the Minister's arguments as

being "totally disingenuous" and

"misleading" was reported in the

media on 15 June, 1993.

Criticisms of the tax by Law Society

President,

Raymond Monahan,

as "a

quick fix measure" were reported in

the

Sunday Business Post

of 20 June,

1993. The

Irish Press

of 22 June

reported that the fight to force a

Government climb-down on the

controversial new tax was being

stepped up. The article quoted

Raymond Monahan as saying "there

will be a strong build up of resistance

to the new tax from ordinary people as,

increasingly, they become aware of its

full legal ánd financial implications".

Bertie Ahern TD, Minister for

Finance. His defence of probate tax

was rejected as "disingenuous and

misleading".

Personal Injuries

"Injury Claims: Fees Top £178m" was

the heading on an article by

Colm

Murphy

in the

Sunday Tribune

of 13

June, 1993, which reported that

lawyers and other professionals shared

an estimated £178m last year in legal

costs arising from personal injuries

actions. The article said this

represented an 11% increase on the

amount paid two years ago.

The

Daily Star

and

Irish Independent

of 19 June, 1993, both reported on the

address by the President of the Law

Society, Raymond Monahan, at a

Parchment Ceremony, in which he

said that it was entirely misleading to

point the finger at solicitors for the

growth in personal injuries claims.

The reasons for the increase in claims

were that members of the public were

now more mobile than ever, they

engaged in a wider range of

commercial transactions, leisure

pursuits, and, in general, carried

on life at a greater pace and lived

longer.

| The

Sunday Independent

of 20 June,

! 1993 reported on comments made by

the President of the High Court,

Mr.

Justice Liam Hamilton,

at the

Parchment Ceremony in the Law

; Society on 18 June, when he criticised i

proposals to put a limit on the amount i

of compensation that could be paid to

personal injury victims. He was

reported as saying that no two injuries

were the same, and that victims of

I accidents did not benefit from the sort

| of lobbying efforts available to

employers or to the insurance

companies.

Regulatory Role of the Law Society

| The cover story of the issue of

Business \

and Finance

published on 24 June,

1993, was entitled "Rogue Lawyers-

Solicitors who Go Bad." The article

examined the current state of the

! Society's Compensation Fund including

the level of contributions made by

| solicitors and the level of payouts. The

article also described the regulatory

; functions of the Law Society and com-

mented on the fact that the Society was

taking a tougher line with errant law-

yers. Commenting on the Compensation

Fund, the author of the article,

Gerald

| Flynn,

said: "It is indeed rare for

other professionals to rally round to

compensate customers or clients of

colleagues who defraud them." The

article also focused on recent disciplin-

ary cases in the High Court against

! solicitors.

The

Irish Independent

of 30 June,

1993, published a similar, though less

detailed, article and commented that

"the Law Society, which is self-

regulatory, is working hard to reform

I the damaging image. It has taken a

tougher line on errant solicitors." The

article also reported that there was an

element of poverty creeping into the

profession and that solicitors working

on social welfare, family, criminal and

employment law were "unlikely to

make a killing."

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