The Gazette 1988

• GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1988

GAZETTE INCORPORATE D LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND Vol. 82 No. 1 Jan/Feb 1988

In this Issue

Viewpoint

3

Inheritance Tax on Discretionary Trusts

Viewpoint

5

Practice Notes

11

President's Column

12

Daii Debates

15

said nothing about the other major complaint which has been made, namely, that those who have been involved in running pirate radio stations are not to be proscribed from receiving licences. There is no area of law enforcement in which various governments have been so lax as in the area of pirate broadcasting. It has never been explained clearly what were the great defects in the previous legislation wh i ch prevented the authorities from successfully prosecuting operators of pirate radio stations. Neither was it ever made clear why other me t hods, other t han direct prosecution, could not have been used to attack these stations. Not alone t ha t, but there are suggestions that some of these stations may in fact have received grants from local or semi-state sources. It also appears that advertisers may have been able to treat the costs of their advertising as legitimate expenses when compiling their tax returns. If the activity of pirate broadcasting was illegal, then such illegality must surely taint all transactions directly connected with it. It may not be too late for the Revenue authorities to take an appropriate view of such advertisers and act accordingly*. Only by inserting a provision in the Bill which will prevent the Adv i so ry Comm i t t ee f r om considering applications from any persons who were involved in the management and control of pirate radio stations can the Oireachtas regain any credibility from the State in this area. * Not only PA YE payers, but all tax payers have a grievance here. •

PIRATE RADIOS Hopefully, the recently introduced Sound Br oadcas t i ng Bill and Br oadcas t i ng and Wireless Telegraphy Bill will reach the statute book w i th reasonable promptitude. The Sound Broadcasting Bill, wh i ch provides for the establishment of a system of local radio stations, is not without its defects. The previous govern- ment's plans for local radio appear to have foundered on the Labour Party's insistence on RTE having a dominant part in local broad- casting. The present Bill and the Minister's comments on it suggest that he may be about to hoist himself on an equally ill-aimed petard - the complete exclusion of RTE. This would surely be as mistaken as the earlier proposal. RTE has served this country well over the years - it gets tired and middle aged from time to time and needs rejuvenation - but its s t anda r ds are high and the broadcasters it has trained can hold their own in any company. In his speech on the second stage of the Sound Broadcasting Bill, the Minister indicated that he proposed to amend a provision of the Bill which had drawn the greatest c r i t i c i sm when first announced, namely t hat t he Minister appeared to be reserving the power to over-ride the views of the Advisory Committee which is to be established to monitor the app l i ca t i ons for b r oadcas t i ng licences. The amendment will provide that the Minister must accept the recommendation of the Advisory Committee. Unfortunately, the Minister has

Expert Systems and Communications

17

International Bar Association

22

Book Review

23

Professional Information

25

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Executive Editor: Mary Buckley

Editorial Board: Charles R. M. Meredith, Chairman John F. Buckley Gary Byrne Daire Murphy Maxwell Sweeney Advertising: Liam O hOisin. Telephone: 305236 307860 Printing: Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford. The views expressed in this publication, save where otherwise indicated, are the views of the contributors and not necessarily the views of the Council of the Society. The appearance of an advertisement in this publication does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for the product or service advertised. Published at Blackball Place, Dublin 7. Tel.: 710711. Telex: 31219. Fax: 710704. *

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