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

Yes, we are looking at that. In circumstances where a member of the Bar was being directly consulted by a client, he or she should be able to recover fees. I also regard it as an entirely anomalous and historical accident that if a member of the Bar has properly undertaken work on the instructions of a solicitor and he or she does not get paid, he or she is left effectively in limbo beyond making a complaint to the Law Society. That is entirely inappropriate and unfair, although it might have been an interesting concept in the 1800s. We are looking at how we can best address that. I hope we will have an amendment on Report Stage.