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GAZETTE
MARCH 1983
National House Building
Guarantee Scheme
Practitioners will remember that when the Guarantee
Scheme was originally introduced, its success was assured
by the fact that the main Building Societies declined to
give loans unless a Builder was registered with the
N.H.B.G.S. This effectively forced all the larger builders
tojoin the Guarantee Scheme. Exception was made at that
time for "once off" houses, whether built by builders or by
direct labour.
The Law Society understands that the Guarantee
Scheme has now concluded discussions with the Irish
Building Societies Association which will, in effect,
require all houses built by builders, whether speculatively
or on a "once-off" basis, to be registered with the
Guarantee Scheme.
Many people are having "once o f f' houses built by
builders in rural areas, on sites transferred from some
member of their family, or purchased independently.
Solicitors would be well advised to warn clients at the
earliest stage possible that, if they hope to obtain a
Building Society loan on the house in due course, that they
must deal with a builder registered with the Guarantee
Scheme. •
Conveyancing Notes
Releases of Mortgages and Charges
V.A.T. on Lending Institutions Solicitors Fees
It has been brought to the attention of the Conveyancing
Committee that some Solicitors acting for lending
institutions are quoting their fees for the taking up of
documents, and for preparation and completion of
Releases of Mortgages, inclusive of V.A.T.
Having checked with the Revenue Authorities, the
Committee is satisfied that this is not a correct practice,
and that Solicitors should issue a note of their fees and the
V.A.T. thereon in the form of a V.A.T. Invoice. •
Professional Indemnity Insurance
At the meeting of the Council of the Society held on
18th February 1983, the President reported on the
likelihood of an increase in premium in the coming year,
commencing 1 st May, 1983 and on the discussions which
had taken place with Minets in Dublin and London and
with the Underwriter of the American International
Insurance Company. The main problem was in the
valuation of outstanding claims. The Society'
representatives had persuaded Minets that the claims be
reviewed and assessed by Senior Counsel and this was
now being put/in hand. In addition, Committee members
were making tneir own inquiries. At the end of the day, it
could well be that the Society could still be dealing with
Minets and, possibly, with the American International
Insurance Company, but the Committee considered that
every avenue should be explored, in view of the level of
increase in premium which had been suggested. As
decisions could be required before the next meeting of the
Council, the President asked that discretion be given to the
Committee to deal with the matter. This was agreed. •
Education Note
Final Examination — First Part 1982
— A Report
The Society held its Final Examination — First Part
(the "Entry" Examination) in December 1982. The
provisional, results were announced by the Education
Committee on January 27th, 1983.
The Society's examiners for the Final Examination —
First Part were:
Subject
Tort
Contract
Property
Constitutional
Law
Company Law
Criminal Law
Internal Examiner
Mr. Patrick McGovern,
Solicitor
Mr. William Binchy B.L.
Ms. Mary B. P. O'Mahoney,
Solicitor.
Mr. Eamonn G. Hall,
Solicitor
Mr. Owen O'Connell,
Solicitor.
Mr. Brendan Garvan,
Solicitor.
External Examiner
Professor Bryan M.
McMahon, (U.C.C.)
Dr. Henry Ellis,
(N.I.H.E. Limerick).
Professor J. C. Brady,
(U.C.D.).
Professor R. F. V.
Heuston, (D.U.).
Mr. Patrick Ussher,
(D.U.).
Professor Kevin Boyle,
(U.C.G.).
The examination papers are set by the Internal
Examiners, subject to the approval of the External
Examiners. The External Examiners review a cross
section of all scripts and in particular the scripts of those
candidates whose marks are on the borderline of Pass or
Failure and are the final arbiters of the marks to be
awarded to such candidates.
The Internal Examiners present written reports on the
examinations and all the Examiners are invited to meet
with the Education Committee immediately prior to the
consideration of the results.
226 Candidates sat the full examination in 1982.146 of
them were declared to have passed the examination. 89 of
the Candidates passed all the subjects which they sat (Law
Graduates are exempt from Criminal Law). 57
Candidates were allowed compensation from other
subjects.
The following compensation rules were applied on this
occasion.
1. No Candidate who failed to reach the Pass mark (50)
in three subjects or more was allowed to compensate.
2. No Candidate who achieved less than 40 marks in any
subject was allowed to compensate.
3. Any Candidate who had achieved less than 50 marks
in two subjects was only entitled to compensate if that
Candidate had achieved more than 45 marks in one of
those subjects.
4. Candidates who had not achieved a total of over 250
marks were not entitled to compensate (marks in
Criminal Law were not taken into account in
computing this total). •
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