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upon the number of units paid up during his con–
tribution period. He can vary the amount of his
contribution from year to year, depending on the
amount of his business profits or other circum–
stances and he will be credited with a certain number
of units on retirement. This flexibility is, of course,
of the greatest advantage to solicitors and members
of those other professions whose profits fluctuate
from year to year and there is no reason why the
self-employed professional man
should not be
entitled to the benefits of a similar scheme in Ireland.
I trust that we may shortly see this country falling
into line and redressing this serious injustice to
the professions. I gather from the recent Budget
Speech that the new Finance Bill will, in fact, make
some provisions towards this end, but what these
may be I cannot yet say as the Council have not
yet had the opportunity of examing the Bill.
SOLICITORS' BENEVOLENT ASSOCIATION.
I should like now to recommend to you the
Solicitors' Benevolent Association, of which I am
a member. This Association, as you all know, has
as its object the relief of those solicitors and their
families who are for one reason or another
unable to provide for themselves. The Solicitors'
Benevolent Association should be close to the
heart of every member of this Society. Those
members of our profession and their families who
through no fault of their own have fallen on evil
days and cannot, some of them, afford to buy the
necessaries of life are helped by the Association.
None of us should ever forget that but for the grace
of God, any one of us might be in the same position
and yet it is a matter for astonishment to realise
that out of almost eighteen hundred practising solici–
tors in Ireland only eight hundred and eleven are
members. This, I believe, is due to the fact that the
members of our profession do not realise either the
benefits and assistance given by the Association or
the enormous help that the members of our pro–
fession could give to the Association by subscribing.
The annual subscription is only £1 is., or about jd.
a week.
If every solicitor
in Ireland were
to
subscribe the Directors of the Association would
happily be able to increase the annuities and grants.
And I appeal to all members of the profession to
join this association now.
Before I end this report I should like to express
my deep appreciation of the help and assistance
given to me by my two Vice-Presidents, Mr. Halpin
and Mr. Lanigan. I have never asked them to do
anything yet that they did not do cheerfully and
willingly, and I am most grateful. I must also thank
the members of the Council for the help and the
guidance which they have given to me during the
past extremely difficult six months. It is right that
you should know that in my opinion this present
Council has been the hardest worked and the most
willing to do hard work that I have seen during my
time of service. Each individual member has at all
times put the affairs of the profession a long way
before his own.
Finally I must thank Eric Plunkett, my secretary;
without him to assist and guide me it would have
been manifestly impossible for me to carry out my
duties. It has been the custom now for many years
at these General Meetings to thank him publicly for
his work for our profession, but I want to make it
clear now that this is no casual praise. Every member
of the Council will agree with me when I say that
he is the guide and friend of every member of the
profession and one of the most stalwart guardians
of the profession itself.
And lastly, I must not forget to thank the Society's
staff who are always so willing and so helpful to me,
and the members of the Council in assisting us in
the performance of our duties.
DUBLIN SOLICITORS' BAR ASSOCIATION.
The
following motion was
proposed
by
Mr. Arthur Cox and seconded by Mr. John J. Nash :
" That the Council be authorised to seek legislation
giving the Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association the
right to nominate three extraordinary members of
the Council, and that the charters be amended
accordingly with such terms and provisions relating
thereto, as the Council may think fit." Messrs.
McLoughlin, Gilmore and McGarry spoke to the
motion. The motion was put to the meeting and
carried without dissent.
The Press retired and the house went into private
business.
When, the representatives of the Press had left
the meeting, the President added the following
remarks :
RELATIONS WITH THE BANKS.
You will remember that at the last half-yearly
General Meeting of this Society it was debated as
to when the Solicitors' Accounts Regulations shall
be brought into force and there was considerable
opposition to them by some members on the grounds
that once the regulations came into force the set-off
allowed by time-honoured custom by the banks to
solicitors who had large credits in their clients'
account and an overdraft in their own account would
no longer be permitted.
You will all by now have received a circular from
the Society setting out what has been achieved by
the Council since the last meeting.