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at its principal source, namely, the Valuation Office,
and as a result of that decision an interview was
sought and obtained with the Commissioner of
Valuation, who
received
the deputation most
courteously and sympathetically, and made certain
promises to the deputation and stated that as a
result of a reorganisation plan then envisaged it
was hoped that matters would improve.
I regret to have to report that while undoubtedly
there has been some improvement in the position
still speaking on behalf of country practitioners
I feel obliged to say that the new arrangements
are not satisfactory.
The trouble seems to me to be mainly due to the
fact that the Valuation Office deal with property
situated in the country by staff valuers from Dublin
visiting the country twice a year and inspecting the
properties concerned; the delay which is bound to
occur as a result of this system can be obviated and
in my opinion entirely removed by appointing local
resident valuers in each area, one each shall we say
resident in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway,
Mullingar, and Sligo.
If this practice were adopted
I am confident it would expedite the valuations,
and what in my opinion is equally important would
decentralize this system and considerably simplify
the work of the Valuation Office and, in addition,
the work of solicitors who are usually blamed for
delays in Government offices.
As regards the Probate Office, and the Land
Registry, there has undoubtedly been some improve
ment in these offices, but there are still delays
particularly in the former although there appears
to be a readiness to expedite cases of particular
importance or urgency.
I would like to refer at
this stage to a tendency which appears to be creeping
in of closing local Probate Offices and local Land
Registry Offices;
in my opinion if this tendency
were to gather momentum or to increase in any way
it would be disastrous to the profession in general,
and to the country practitioners in particular.
Many of these delays, and the closing of some of
these offices
is
explained, or attempted
to be
explained, by what is called shortage of staff.
I
find it difficult to accept this explanation, in view
of the enormous number of unemployed in the
country at the present time, the large emigration
of people looking for work whom we are told
cannot find work at home.
It would be a considerable inconvenience to the
country practitioner if he had not available locally
the records of the Land Registry of his county
and the records of the local Probate Office;
the
closing of any such offices would, in my opinion,
inconvenience and embarrass not alone the pro
fession but also the public without any real advantage
to anybody.
We are all aware of the outrageous increase
in Court fees imposed by the Government some
six months ago.
I understand that these increases
or at all events some of them may be the subject
of review by the authorities concerned, and I
trust that as a result of that review reason will
prevail. While undoubtedly some of the fees could
have been justifiably increased, the increases made in
my view in most cases were exorbitant and grossly
excessive. Apart from the expense to those on whom
the increases ultimately fall, it means an enormous
increase in the outlay incurred by a solicitor in the
running of his office, for which he may not be
recouped for months and indeed in some cases for
years.
I well remember some time ago when representa
tions were made to
the appropriate authority
for a small increase in the District Court scale of
professional charges. When that application was
made the appropriate authorities argued that the
District Court was regarded as
the poor man's
Court, and on no account in the circumstances
could the professional charges be increased. To
take two items alone, from the increase in the Court
fees, a stamp on an Ordinary District Court Civil
Bill, which used to amount to 1/6 is now 5/-, and
in the case of the Circuit Court the stamp on a
Circuit Court civil bill, which used to' be 2/6 is
now
£i
os. od., an increase in the latter case of
700 per cent. There is no necessity for me to go
into further details in this particular matter, except
to express the hope that reason and common sense
will prevail and that on review these fees will be
considerably reduced.
As a country solicitor I have a particular interest
in the local bar associations. In my opinion it is
essential for every solicitor to be a member of his
local bar association. These associations through
out the country relieve the Council of the Society
of a considerable amount of work in dealing with
professional problems that arise between the mem
bers, and they are in many cases more competent
to deal with certain classes of difficulties and dif
ferences than are the Council of the Law Society.
During my six months tenure of office, I have
attended several of their functions, and I am glad
to be able to report that they seem to be perform
ing their duties most efficiently and in most cases
have 100% membership. Unfortunately there are
two areas in the country where the local bar associa
tions for one reason or another are no longer
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