Ms Caitríona Walsh:

I provided a submission last week and presume it has been circulated to members. Rather than read it verbatim, I propose to paraphrase it.

I am grateful for the opportunity to appear before the joint committee in my capacity as chairperson designate of the Private Residential Tenancies Board. I will begin by outlining my career to date. I am a solicitor in a firm in Wexford called Ensor O'Connor. We operate a general practice in Wexford, with offices in Enniscorthy and Wexford. We are a general legal practitioner service provider and in these challenging times are considered to be a large practice in the south east. We have approximately 24 staff, with four partners, including me, and a new salaried partner coming on board. I have been a solicitor for more than 17 years and a partner in Ensor O'Connor since 2002. My area of expertise covers the District Court. I am a District Court prosecutor and practitioner.

I will outline what this means for me.

We deal with many public authorities. I am prosecutor for Wexford County Council and Gorey and Enniscorthy town councils. That implies I have wide-ranging and varied expertise and experience. My local authority role is as a prosecutor in the District Court. I deal with issues such as housing, including applications for possession, the collection of rent arrears and debt collection. I prosecute for the local authority in the area of planning. Therefore, I deal with planning enforcement prosecutions. Obviously, I deal with appeals and provide advice on these prosecutions. I also deal with any other matter that might come before the District Court in regard to planning.

With regard to the environment section, I carry out prosecutions in the area of waste management and water pollution. Many prosecutions pertain to litter pollution and associated elements. More recently, we have carried out quite a number of prosecutions under the Water Services Act 2007.

With regard to finance, I carry out prosecutions regarding commercial rates and engage in seeking warrants in respect of commercial water rates. I deal with a very extensive area in respect of local authorities. The cases are all related to the District Court and I am generally prosecuting on behalf of the local authority.

Recently I was appointed as one of the solicitors to prosecute for the National Educational Welfare Board in Wexford. Cases pertain to children who are not attending school. The children's parents are prosecuted. I am also the solicitor in Wexford for Inland Fisheries Ireland and carry out prosecutions for it. The matters are very specific, unless one is a fisherman. Much expertise is needed, given the detail involved.

The other major task I carry out in the District Court is acting for the Health Service Executive. I carry out all of its prosecutions in respect of tobacco. I carry out food regulation prosecutions and other prosecutions of this nature. Most important for the Health Service Executive, I am its child protection expert in the District Court in Wexford. I do all of its child protection work. In addition, I engage in criminal defence work in the District Court, the Circuit Court and the Court of Criminal Appeal. I do licensing, family law and civil work. The list is exhaustive with regard to the District Court.