Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The difficulty is that it has been 18 months since Second Stage and we are now engaged in a symbolic gathering for an hour and a half before the summer recess. We will revisit all of this during the recess. We will probably get through Parts 1 and 2 today but we will not get to Part IV. The difficulty is we are being asked to agree sections that have a cost implication for the legal profession. Fees will be applied and that could have an impact on people starting out in the profession. We need the full picture. We are being asked to sign up to the powers outlined for the regulatory authority, which will regulate directly and deal with significant numbers of complaints without an assessment of the cost of doing that and how the cost will be applied to the profession. Members of the legal profession are struggling, particularly on the bottom rungs of the ladder, to work their way up and there has to be a concern about how the powers of the authority, which are provided for in the early Parts of the legislation, impact on later Parts. Fees are dealt with later in the Bill.

We all know about the delays in the Attorney General's office. Many Bills have been delayed there but this is a piecemeal approach.