435 / 736
up, since current profit margins are already too
low or non-existent."
THE PROFESSIONS — AN APPRAISAL
Dr. Garrett Fitzgerald, T.D., delivered a lecture
on " The Professions " to the Medico-Legal Society
on 29th January 1970. The lecturer emphasised
the following points :—
(1) In the past forty years, the number of
people employed in professions have risen
by 60% in the case of men and 50% for
women. Accountants and scientists have
increased sevenfold in that time, engineers
and architects have quadrupled, and veteri
nary surgeons have trebled ; the clergy,
nursing and medicine had increased by
half—and lawyers by one third.
(2) There is a trend away from self-employ
ment status ; the employee proportion of
accountants is 82%, in nursing it is 98%,
in medicine it is 58%, and in engineering
92%.
(3) The role of the university in associating
themselves with the professions is recog
nised, particularly in law, medicine, archi
tecture and engineering. It is imperative
that the professional bodies should recog
nise the adequacy of the university courses.
The professional faculties are a valued
part of a university, but it seems that most
professional students, save law students;
find it difficult to play a full role in univer
sity life ; this tends to give lawyers a
broader outlook.
(4) The 1,700 professionals in the public ser
vice have three different roles to perform,
according to circumstances.
(a) to give specialist service
(b) To inspect the work of others, and
offer them advice—as in the Depart
ment of Local Government and
Education
(c) To undertake technical operations —
such as Artificial Drainage, Ancient
Monuments, etc.
The departments concerned had a tendency
to regard their professional staff as inde
pendent consultants rather than as part of
the policy formation machinery. Profes-
sional staff have relatively poor prospects
of ultimate promotion, and on the whole
are given little opportunity to develop
whatever administrative talents they
possess. Professional civil servants who
have direct access to the public can be
relied upon absolutely to provide infor
mation free from selectivity or bias.
(5) Professional training should produce people
who will not allow considerations of per
sonal advantage, or fear of the conse
quences, to affect them from acting in
accordance with their professional con
science. Even as an employee, the profes
sional man can readily retain his
independence of judgment, which should
make him of value to the employer ; it is
always vital that public confidence in his
professional integrity should be maintained.
(6) With regard to professional remuneration,
the fact that the acquisition of a profession
involves a lengthy period of education and
training and the need to forego income for
several years, deserves to be recompensed
by adequate remuneration. It is essential
for most professional men to have an office
and some kind of staff, for the professions
are service businesses ; in order to cover
overheads and profits, it is necessary to
make charges 2^ times the remuneration
of these employees. As regards professional
rules which require a minimum scale of
charges to be applied, it is notable that
many professions do not have any such
system, and seem to manage quite well
without it.
(7) If there is a code of professional ethics, this
may conflict with the law, which severely
restricts the doctrine of professional privi
lege. As a university teacher, Dr. Fitzgerald
felt that he had a duty to his students to
join in the seminar which replaced lectures
last year ; others felt they had a primary
duty to the University. The freedom of
inquiry and freedom of speech of profes
sional people is a vital guarantee of all
democratic freedoms. Any infringement of
these professional freedoms can only
weaken society. The MaCarthyist attitude
of the state authorities towards Father
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