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Incorporated Law Society at our meetings on 17 and
23 December 1974. We note the statement by the
Department of Justice that it had been hoped that
"the actual increases to be allowed would have been
fixed by the Commission acting more or less in the
role of arbitrator". Our function is to make recom-
mendations on applications for increases in prices,
charges, or fees that are referred to us and not in any
circumstances to act as an arbitrator.
301. The comments by the Department of Justice
make it clear that the fees paid under the free legal
aid scheme cannot be determined without reference to
the general scales of solicitors' fees for all the work
they do. We have, therefore, decided that a detailed
investigation of solicitors' fees is necessary. We will
give the Incorporated Law Society the opportunity of
commenting on the draft terms of reference for this
study. Since the fees paid under the free legal aid
scheme have not been increased since 1970, we
recommend that an interim increase of not more than
66j% should be granted on each of the fees now
payable under the Scheme. In addition, the following
new fees should be introduced into the Scheme:
(a) Hearing of bail applications and cases stated:
One day hearing
£28.00
Each additional day
£14.00
(b) Each visit to Mountjoy, St. Patrick's or other
Penal Establishment: £9.00 plus travelling
expenses as appropriate.
We will review these interim increases when the
general examination of solicitors' fees has been
completed.
Changes in Membership of Council
Mr. Ralph Walker,
a past President of the Society,
after having been re-elected to Council, resigned on
the ground of ill-health, on 12th December, 1974.
Mr. John Buckley
was appointed by the Council to
replace Mr. Walker as an Ordinary Member of the
Council.
, Mr. Rory O'Donnell
was appointed by the Council to
^replace Mr. Buckley as a representative of the
Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association.
Mr. Thomas Valentine O'Connor,
a past President of
the Society resigned from the Council on the 16th
January, 1975.
Mr. Patrick T. Monahan,
Solicitor,
Steven Street, Sligo has been co-opted to the Council
to replace Mr. O'Connor.
Mr. Peter Murphy,
solicitor, Ballybofey, Co. Donegal,
has been co-opted to the Council as Ulster
Representative.
Appointments
Mr. Eamonn Barnes,
Barrister-at-Law, former Legal
Assistant in the Attorney General's Office, has been
appointed to the post of Director of Public Prosecu-
tions created under an Act of 1974. His main
function will be to decide whether a criminal
prosecution should be instituted in specified
circumstances.
Mr. Graham Golding,
M.A., LL.B. (T.C.D.) Dip. Eur.
Law (U.C.D.), solicitor, has been appointed a
Lecturer in Business Administration in the Faculty
of Commerce, U.C.D., Belfield.