The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

N E W S

New Council takes office for 1993/94

DECEMBER 1993

The first meeting of the Council of the

Society 1993/94 , continued the

debate on and consideration of

admissions policy.

The outgoing President,

Raymond

Monahan,

congratulated and

welcomed the newly-elected members

of the Council and the nominees of

the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association,

Southern Law Association, and

provincial delegates. The President

paid tribute to the work of outgoing

Council members,

Maeve Hayes

and

Stephen Maher

, both of whom, he

said, had given generously of their

time and commitment to the Society

and its committees.

Raymond Monahan expressed his

gratitude and appreciation to his

colleagues on the Council for 1992/93

and said it had been an honour to lead

the Council and the profession and he

noted the tremendous support he had

received from the Council. He also

thanked the Director General and the

staff of the Society for their hard work,

dedication and loyalty throughout the

year. He expressed appreciation to his

Senior Vice-President,

Michael

O'Mahony,

and his Junior Vice-

President,

Laurence Shields.

On assuming office as President,

Michael O'Mahony

paid tribute to

Raymond Monahan for an outstanding

presidency. He said Raymond

Monahan had been a good-humoured,

dedicated and popular President. Ray

had initiated the Compensation Fund

Policy Review Committee and a

comprehensive review of the

Society's education and admissions

policy and he, as President, was

committed to continuing the important

work on both these issues. He said his

agenda for the coming year would be

to build on the initiatives of his

í predecessor, continue to lobby on the

Solicitors Bill which was expected to

be introduced before Christmas and to

deal with any other issues which arose

from time to time. The President also

praised the staff of the Society.

Admissions Policy

The outgoing chairman of the

I Education Committee,

Pat O'Connor,

reported that the Education Committee

! had put forward, on a tentative basis

and with a view to stimulating debate,

a number of proposals on the current

and future policy of the Law Society

| on education and admissions. Mr.

! O'Connor outlined the content of the

proposals and following discussion the

i Council agreed to consider the

proposals in more detail at its next

meeting alongside other views which

had been expressed.

Compensation Fund

The Council approved a schedule of

payments from the Compensation

Fund

(see page 389).

The Chairman of

the Compensation Fund reported to

the Council that the Committee had

decided to refer one solicitor to the

Disciplinary Committee.

New Salary Scale for Apprentices

The Council approved a new

recommended scale of salaries for

apprentices to apply from January 1,

1994. The recommendation represents

an increase of £10 per week over the

former recommended scale, which had

been in operation for almost four

years, as follows:

• before commencement of

the professional course

£95 p.w.

• first six months in office

after professional course £115 p.w.

• next six months

£125 p.w.

• final period before

apprentice returns to

Law School for advanced

course

£135 p.w.

Proposal to Cap Compensation

Awards

The Council noted remarks made by

the Minister for State for Commerce

& Technology,

Seamus Brennan,

TD,

at the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis and

observed that the Minister appeared

intent on proceeding with his

proposal. It was agreed that it was

vital to reiterate the Society's view

that capping compensation awards

would not reduce insurance premiums

and that at every available opportunity

the Society should seek to rebut the

nexus which Mr. Brennan had made

between premium rates and the level

of damages awarded in personal injury

actions. Some members of the Council

thought that there might be merit in

discussing with a firm of economic

consultants whether it would be

worthwhile to undertake a statistical

study of the figures upon which

Minister Brennan appeared to be

basing his proposal. It was also felt

that it would be useful to approach the

Irish Congress of Trade Unions to

discuss the implications of the

Minister's proposal. It was noted that

the exact terms of the Minister's

proposals were far from certain. It was

not known how the proposed cap

would operate, for example, was the

Minister proposing a threshold (say of

£100,000 of £150,000) below which

damages for pain and suffering would

not be awarded.

Committees 1993/94

The Council approved the

membership of the standing and ad

hoc committees of the Society for

1993/94

(see lists commencing on

page 377).

•

Capt. Thomas C. Nash

M. INST. PET.

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