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future the Estate Duty Office will be moved to
the new office buildings at present in course of
erection near Iveagh House in Stephen's Green.
Finance Act 1965
A
special
sub-committee,
consisting of
the
President with Messrs. G. G. Overend, P. G.
Moore and the Secretary, was appointed to re
ceive communications made from members of the
Society on difficulties experienced in
the oper
ation of the Finance Act 1965, and in particular
in relation to the special provisions for taxation
of property development.
Members of the Society are requested to send
communications to the Secretary.
Adverse Reference to a Solicitor in the Dail
The attention of the Council was drawn to a
statement made by the Minister for Lands in
Dail Eireann, as reported in the Dail debates of
May 25th. In a reply to a question by an opposi
tion deputy it was suggested that payment of
land bonds to a widow had been delayed due
to the default of a solicitor.
It was decided that the Secretary should make
enquiries as to the facts and the identity of the
solicitor, that if the solicitor is at fault the Soc
iety ought to reprimand him for the unfavourable
publicity given to the profession, that if he is
not at fault the matter should be taken up by
the Society with the Minister for Lands.
June 16th: The President in the chair, also
present Messrs. Richard Knight, Ralph J. Walker,
Brendan A. McGrath, Joseph P. Black, Gerard
M. Doyle, W. A. Osborne, Thomas H. Bacon,
Rory O'Connor, Peter E. O'Connell, James R.
C. Green, Francis J. Lanigan, G. J. Moloney, T.
V. O'Gonnor, George A. Nolan,
James W.
O'Donovan, Patrick Noonan, Thomas J. Fitz-
patrick, John Maher, Peter D. M. Prentice, G.
G. Overend, Desmond J. Gollins, Reginald J.
Nolan, Eunan McCarron, P. C. Moore, R. A.
French, John J. Nash, John Garrigan.
The following was among the business trans
acted :
Accountants' Certificates
Draft regulations submitted with explanatory
memorandum and ballot paper ware approved.
It was decided that the draft regulations and
ballot paper should be issued immediately with
a covering
letter
to each member
from
the
President.
Valuation Appeals
The following resolution was adopted :—
That the Council of the Incorporated Law
Society being of opinion that the proposal to
transfer the present jurisdiction of the Cir
cuit Court in relation to appeals against the
decisions of the Commissioner of Valuation
to non judicial
tribunals or arbitrators
is
contrary to the public interest, requests the
Minister for Local Government not to accept
the proposal. The Council urge the Minister
to retain the present system whereby the
Circuit Court
having
jurisdiction where
the property
is
located
should
continue
to
exercise
final appellate
jurisdiction on
questions of fact arising out of valuation
appeals, with
a
further
right of appeal
from the Circuit Court limited to questions
of law only.
Medical Witnesses' Expenses
A deputation was appointed to ask the Irish
Medical Association for a conference to discuss
difficulties arising out of the attitude of certain
medical practitioners
in relation
to furnishing
medical reports and attendance as witnesses in
Court proceedings.
PROCEEDINGS IN DAIL EIREANN —
REFERENCE TO SOLICITOR
The Dail reports of May 25th contain references
made by the Minister for Lands to a solicitor
who acted for an owner of property which was
acquired by the Irish Land Commission for the
sum of £11,000. According to
the report the
Land Commission took possession of the lands on
1st February, 1965, and placed £11,000 6 per
cent Land Bonds to credit. The bonds had not
been allocated by 25th May, 1966 and the owner
was stated to have lost about £1,000 as a result
of a subsequent fall in the market of the bonds.
In reply to questions raised by a deputy in
which adverse statements were made by the deputy
affecting the Land Commission, the Minister for
Justice was reported as having said,
inter alia,
"The purchase money in this case could have
been allocated by the owner in February, 1965.
At the time 6 per cent Land Bonds were quoted
at 98. They did not fall substantially until the
following June. In many ordinary transactions
between solicitors rulings on title totalling from
25 to 42 had to be entered. In this case there
were only four rulings which had to be answered.
What is the owner's solicitor paid to do? He is
18