Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is a really important issue. As Deputies know, the legislation contains a separate provision allowing the legal services regulatory authority to review the area of legal education and what changes might need to be effected to ensure that the doors are kept open and to ensure that those who wish to become a member of either profession can to do so and that nothing impedes that. The legislation contains very specific provisions with regard to our system of legal education, which has been run well. This is where there has been evolution on behalf of the Bar and the solicitor profession in the increased sophistication of lectures, studies and training provided to people who wish to become either a solicitor or a barrister. That is the area in which there has been change over the years. The competition between the Law Society and the Honourable Society of the King's Inns in the type of legal training they provide has helped to contribute to ensuring that its excellence has improved over the years.

However, there has not been an overarching examination of the provision of legal education in Ireland. Can it be accessed generally or do any sections of society have difficulty in accessing it? Are any structural changes needed? For example, as happens in England - I am not sure whether this is either desirable or necessary in Ireland because we are a much smaller jurisdiction - should the universities be licensed to have some remit in providing professional training for either profession? Before everybody gets excessively excited and thinks this is something I am advocating, I am not necessarily advocating it. I am very familiar with the system in England. It is necessary because of the extent of the population. I know the Law Society experimented with providing legal studies in Cork and it did not prove economically viable. Therefore, I am not sure there is a necessity for anything of that nature. However, it is a good idea for us to request the legal services regulatory authority to carry out an overview of educational matters.

In that context, I very much value the work done by both of the professional bodies in providing continuing legal education for the qualified members of both professions. I particularly welcome one development. Towards the end of last year I corresponded with the Law Society and the Honourable Society of the King's Inns. This is something that is important and comes out of the independent legal professions in consultation with an independent Judiciary, as opposed to coming from the Department of Justice and Equality. I invited them to consider the creation of a course for qualified barristers and solicitors in judicial training, a course for members of the legal profession who aspire to become judges in the future or those who have no interest in becoming judges but who are regular advocates in the courts and would like to get a greater insight into the judicial function - for example, how judges approach cases, or the type of evidence they believe is helpful in clarifying issues. I invited both the Law Society and the Honourable Society of the King's Inns to consider whether they would either individually or collaboratively consider establishing such a course. I publicly welcome the positive response I received from the Honourable Society of the King's Inns, which, I understand, is engaging in a consultative process with the Judiciary with a view to establishing such a course. As I understand it, it would be a course available as an option in which practising lawyers could participate. I believe it would be very valuable if we moved on in the context of training. At the moment a judge gets judicial training after appointment. It would be an extra, valuable link in the chain for practising lawyers who may consider at some stage in their career applying to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board to be appointed to the courts if they had some opportunity - with, I would very much hope, a substantial input from the Judiciary - to engage in this type of course. I very much look forward to seeing how this matter develops.