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the full annual contribution to retirement annuities
as a charge against gross income, thereby obtaining
full relief from both income tax and sur tax.
Having considered ways and means of taking
advantage of these concessions the Council decided
to engage the services of Irish Pensions Trust
Limited in consultation with whom a scheme has
now been devised which gives preferential terms
confined exclusively to members of the Society.
The Scheme also provides for the continued advice
of the consultants to all members who participate
keeping them in touch with any developments
which may occur (including variations in rates
between different underwriters) and which may
prove to be to their advantage.
It also provides
for advice at the retiring age as to the relative value
at that time of any options available in the light of
the circumstances then prevailing.
The scheme primarily provides for special pension
policies. An important feature of this is that it is
not necessary to pay regular premiums but a member
can pay as much as he likes with the minimum of
£100
as his first premium and secure a pension on
this single payment and can then add to it in future
years if he wants to by paying other single premiums.
This permits a member to make the greatest provision
for his future in a year which has been profitable
without leaving him any liability in a bad year.
Coupled with this, provision is made for a reducing
life assurance which is optional to enable a member
to augment the amount payable on his death on the
pension policies if he were to die in the early years
when the death payment would be small.
Finally, a special permanent and non-cancellable
sickness and accident scheme has also been negotiated
on preferential terms. All members of the Society
under the age of 60 are eligible for the sickness and
accident scheme.
Details of the scheme which, in the view of your
Council, is
the most advantageous at this stage
available and of the advisory service offered by the
Consultants will be contained in a booklet now being
prepared and which will in due course be circulated
to each member of the Society. We are all indebted
to our Senior Vice-President Mr. Overend for a
great deal of time and care given by him to this
scheme.
Finance
I must now direct your attention for a few
moments to our accounts for the past year. You
will observe that in recent years we have divided
up our accounts under five different heads, namely :
A Members Account; A Registration Account;
An Educational Account; A Miscellaneous Account.
And finally a Consolidation Account,
In each case the name is indicative of the nature
of the particular account and the final result is to
be found in the last mentioned account The Con
solidation Account.
The Finance Committee have been giving very
close and careful consideration to our accounts
during the past year and I feel bound to bring to
your notice one or two very sobering facts.
Firstly, since 1956 when our income exceeded our
expenditure by some £4,200 our surplus has steadily
dropped until last year when the figure was £461
and this year only slightly better at £704. Next
year we will almost certainly show a loss.
Secondly, we would this year have shown a loss
but for the fact that our income from Examination
and Lecture Fees was up by £1,800 due to the way
in which examinations happened to fall.
This
resulted in an abnormal amount being actually
received within the year under account.
Thirdly, we must and I am sure do realise how
ordinary office expenditure and outlay has risen
in the past'few years. The Society has been no
exception. In this past year alone printing has cost
us £500 more than in the previous year. Salaries,
stationery, electricity and postage have all moved
up.
Fourthly, apart from these increases in the more
usual items there have been new items which we
have had to face. The holding of our Half Yearly
Meeting outside Dublin every second year has cost
us money and it has been money well spent. Our
obligations to the International Bar Association
where we now hold an important and respected
place have had to be met. The cost of entertaining
the Society's Guests, which up to a year or so ago,
incredible as it may seem, was borne by the members
of the Council personally, is now very properly a
charge on the Society.
We are spending more money in providing extra
lectures for our apprentices and have had to appoint
more examiners. The sum of approximately £500
is being spent in legal fees annually and I will later
refer to this. Finally no one in this room or outside
coud find fault with us for appointing an assistant
to Mr. Plunkett to share with him the ever increasing
responsibility of the work of our Society (An item
which is not in fact reflected in the years accounts
under review).
After long and careful considreation I have come
to the conclusion that subject to two items to which
I will later refer we cannot reduce our expenditure
to any appreciable extent and maintain the facilities
and services of the Society to which our members are
entitled.
There is in my view no wasteful ex
penditure, on the contrary we would dearly like
to spend much more on our Library and other