The Gazette 1964/67

remaining internal mechanical work. In the Cir cuit Court when filing a defence with lodgment it is merely necessary to send the defence by post with a cheque to the County Registrar. There is no reason why the same procedure should not be adopted in the High Court. In the normal case where an order is made for payment out of Court there is at least a month's delay before the draft is issued. The solicitor or his assistant calls on numerous occasions to take up the draft before it is ready. The absence of modern facilities for communication is a defect which pervades the entire machiner of the High Court Offices. The matter goes further than the offices under the control of the Deaprtment of Justice. For some years the Society have made continual rep resentations about serious delays in the Estate Duty Office and the Valuation Office with which solicitors are in continual communication on be half of their clients. The authorities admit that there is serious delays in these Departments due again to shortage of staff, sick leave and other reasons. The public should know that the speed with which solicitors can conduct their client's business depends to a very large extent upon co operation from Government Departments. Under staffing in these Departments leads to delay, un necessary correspondence and additional expense. A solicitor has to keep his file open for months longer than is necessary and efficient office or ganisation is disrupted. The responsibility for de lay does not rest on the under-staffed offices or on the profession who suffer equally with their clients from under-staffing or outdated methods in Government Departments. In July 1960 the Society submitted to the Departments of Justice and Finance a memorandum on organisation and methods in solicitors' and government offices with a view to speeding up business by the introduction of up to date business methods in the public offices with which the solicitors have to deal. The greatest single obstacle to efficiency in the con duct of legal business is the time spent in at tendance and waiting as distinct from being gain fully occupied at various public offices and de partments in different parts of the city. These wasteful and time consuming methods absorb an altogether disproportionate amount of the time of solicitors and their staffs and the Council in their memorandum suggested among other things that much of the business now transacted by personal attendance at various Court offices could be done by telephonic communication and by correspondence. There is no reason by Govern- 82

ment Departments and particularly the Court Offices should be less progressive than business management in the introduction and provision of telephones, dictaphones, correspondence clerks and other aids to speed and efficiency. No reply beyond an acknowledgment was received by the Society to their memorandum. THE LAND COMMISSION The following is the text of a letter addressed by the Society to the Secretary of the Department of Lands, on 7th December, 1965, which the Society consider will be of interest to members: — DEAR MR. O'BRIEN, I refer to our meeting when you received Mr. Shaw and myself to make representations on various difficulties experienced in Land Commission matters: 1. Payment of the purchase price of lands in de preciated land bonds. Solicitors throughout the country are finding great difficulty in explaining to their clients whose lands are compulsorily acquired the justification, if any can be said to exist, for the payment of the price in land bonds standing below par. This has become very serious during the past twelve months. The price of 6 per cent land bonds during the year 1965 has varied between 88 and 98 and now stands near the lower figure. The Land Commission are obliged by statute to pay the owners for the market value of lands compulsorily acquired. In effect at the present time the Land Com mission are paying market value less 12 per cent. There is a moral duty on the State when acquiring lands to compensate owners fairly. This is not being done and the time lag between the issue of new land bonds carrying interest at the same rate as other Government securities has resulted in effect in confiscation of the purchase price of an appreciable number of owners. There appears to be no reason why Government securities issued to persons whose lands are compulsorily acquired should be any less advantageous both in regard to the rate of interest and the terms of issue as Government loans issued for public subscription from time to time. The effect of the terms attached to the issue of land bonds is that they have become to a large extent unsaleable. Instances were quoted at our meeting of owners whose lands have been acquired and who cannot realise the purchase price through the sale of the land bonds on the stock exchange. This is common knowledge among stockbrokers in Dublin. It is the submission of the Society that the Department of Finance and the Department of Lands should take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that land bonds issued to owners on compulsory acquisition will be readily saleable on the stock exchange and will maintain par value. Remedies suggested are (1) payment of a cash bonus to existing holders of land bonds which have depreciated in market value; (2) the immediate issue of a new series of bonds at not less than 6J per cent rate of interest, on favourable conditions as to redemption (otherwise than by drawings) which would make them readily saleable; (3) granting the privilege of availablity for tender in discharge of death duties and income tax to all existing land bond issues. It is a bad thing that Government securities should be difficult to realise or realisable only at depreciated