The Gazette 1983

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INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND
GAZETTE
Vol. 77. No. 5 J U NE 1983
In this issue . . .
Comment
Transfer of a Business and Protection of Employee's
Rights 129
Obituary I3 6
The Increasing Role of the Legal Profession in the
Employment Appeals Tribunal 157
Executive Editor: Mary Buckley
Editorial Board: Charles R. M. Meredith, Chairman
John F. Buckley
Gary Byrne
William Earley
Michael V. O'Mahony
Maxwell Swe eney
Advertising: Liam Ó hOisin, Telephone 3 0 5 2 36
The views expressed in this publication, save where other-
wise indicated, are the views of the contributors and not
necessarily the views of the Council of the Society.
Th e appearance of an advertisement in this publication
does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for
the product or service advertised.
Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.
Comment . . .
In a broad sense, few solicitors need to be told of the
problems of delays and expenses associated with private
house purchase transactions. Their appreciation and
understanding of those problems is, however, and
necessarily, subjective — confined to their particular
difficulties.
The recent Report by An Foras Forbatha* adds a new,
albeit contentious dimension to the problems, resulting as
it does from a three-year survey, involving data obtained
from the Law Society, individual firms of solicitors,
building societies, the Land Registry, the Registry of
Deeds and the Valuation Office. Some practitioners may
be tempted to criticise certain recommendations, but to do
so would be a subjective reaction, discounting the mass of
facts, figures and opinions which the Foras Forbatha team
has analysed in the course of its investigations.
To be told that a typical mortgage transaction with a
building society takes five months from application to
issue of cheque will come as a surprise to many, but this
conclusion is derived from 197 transactions, taken from
the three main building societies. In fact, of the 197
samples, 37% of cases took 6 months, 23% took 8 months
and 15% took more than 10 months.
In a brief note it is impossible to mention all the
conclusions and recommendations of the Report. Most
will please but some may not. Few will argue with the
recommendation that duplication of solicitors be avoided
by using one solicitor to represent both purchaser and
lending agency. All must support the suggestion that rates
of stamp duty on house purchases be substantially
covered. The recommendation that attendance in person
at the Registry of Deeds should no longer be required can
only merit a standing ovation.
The underlying concern of the Report is clearly that
much of the delay and a consequent proportion of the
expense of private house purchase transactions is caused
by ever-increasingly complex bureaucratic requirements
and procedural inefficiencies — in which the solicitors'
profession must take its share — but by no means the
entire — of the blame.
Every solicitor should purchase and study this Report.
Apart from considering the matter of putting one's own
house in order, every practitioner should be in a position to
take part in the informed debate which the subject merits
and must have. The purchase of private houses is of equal
importance to clients and solicitors and both have an equal
interest in ensuring that these transactions are carried out
as quickly and as inexpensively as possible. •
•An Foras Forbatha — Report No. 1. Building Societies and Legal
Requirements. Price £5.
115