156 / 244
o f this Bill would be more fully recognised and
earlier promises and assurances gave some hope
in this direction. Last year your President informed
you, with every reason for assurance, that the
checking o f the Solicitors Bill in the various
Departments o f State was almost complete and
that he hoped that by the end o f that Session of
the Oireachtas, in May, 1950, that it would be
in the hands o f the Government with a view to
its introduction in the Dail. I regret I have to
inform you that the assurances which were given
to our President and the Society then have proved
to be fruitless, and that little progress has been made
in the past twelve months. Although the Bill has
been with the Department o f Justice since 1943
it was recently hinted that some points o f controversy
had emerged in the Bill. So far the Society has
not been informed what these points are, nor,
despite enquiries, has it been able to find out!
Some two months ago we were informed that the
Bill would be ready for introduction to the Dail
after Easter. Now Whitsuntide is past and as far
as we have been able to discern the position is
unchanged.
It is most disappointing and dis
heartening to find that the Society’s efforts to
promote the public good and the improvement' of
the profession should have been side-tracked over
a period o f years in favour o f measures which,
to me at any rate, seem to be o f lesser importance.
At the recent Council dinner of the Society the
Minister for Justice stated he had every reason
to believe that the Bill would be in the hands of
the Government before the present Session.
Although this statement followed a familiar pattern
o f other Ministers on the same topic I hope that
at last we have reached the end o f the road. Since
then the Oireachtas has been dissolved.
The
Council intend to take the first opportunity of
approaching the next Government to urge that
in view o f the delay which has occurred in the
past the Bill should be given priority in the legislative
programme o f the next Dail.
D
efence
B
ill
,
1950’:
Representations were made to the Department
of Defence that Solicitors should not be excluded
from consideration for appointment to the Office
o f Judge Advocafe General; this matter is to be
considered by the Government.
T
ortfeasors
B
ill
,
1950-
This Bill was submitted to the Society in draft
form and the Council sent a memorandum to the
Attorney General making suggestions for its
improvement.
The Council suggested that the
law o f contributory negligence should be amended
6
by introducing the principle o f apportioning
damages according to the relative degrees of
negligence o f the plaintiff and the defendant. This
suggestion, however, was not accepted.
D
epartment
of
E
xternal
A
ffairs
and
F
oriegn
E
states
:
The Society approached the Department of
External Affairs concerning the form o f the circular
issued by Irish Ambassadors and Consuls abroad
to Irish citi2ens notifying them of their right to
participate in the distribution o f assets belonging
to estates being administered by the American
and other Courts. The Circular heretofore in use
amounted to a suggestion that the services o f the
Department should be employed to the possible
exclusion o f solicitors. Your Council feels that
the Department o f External Affairs, and indeed any
other Government Department, should not engage
in solicitors’ work but, in this sphere, should
confine themselves to the preservation o f the
interests o f Irish Nationals. ‘ On representations
from the Council the Department agreed to alter
the form o f the circular and a new draft was prepared
which is now considered to be satisfactory.
I
would like to take this opportunity o f acknowledging
the speed and courtesy with which the Department
met our Society in the matter.'
S
olicitors
’ R
emuneration
:
We are the only profession in the State whose
charges and fees are controlled by Statute. In the
light o f modern conditions this arrangement can
hardly be considered as satisfactory to the profession
having regard to its inflexibility in the face of
steadily rising prices. The cost o f running a
solicitor’s office in terms o f wages, stationery,
which is a very large item, and other overheads,
has increased by well o.ver 100 per cent, since 1939.
The absurdity o f our present position is demons
trated by stating that solicitors now only receive
a maximum increase o f 35 per cent, over our 1921
fees. The average increase in fees since 1921 is
about 25 per cent. A £20 fee in 1921 to-day stands
at
out o f which we have to pay the increased •
cost o f running our office in terms o f wages,
stationery, etc., provide for our homes and families
in a world o f increasing prices and deflating value
of money. The absurdity o f this position has only
to be stated to be demonstrated, when, according
to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for
Industry and Commerce in the Dail on 2nd May
last, the position of the po und sterling was as
follows :—A quantum o f go ods to the value of
11 /7d. in 19 14 cost 20J- in T939 and cost 39 /-in
February, 1951.
We find that applications for