Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I know times have changed but when I started as a barrister, it was quite possible for a young solicitor to have the ambition of establishing a single member firm, renting an office, paying a secretary, paying the Law Society annual subscription and paying all the overheads associated with a small practice. Now, you would find people being asked for €30,000 or €40,000 a year in terms of insurance coverage for sole practitioners. That means when you open the door of your practice, virtually every day you have to make €500 just to remain open.

It is a crippling cost for a developing practice in its early days. There was a solicitor's mutual society but it got into difficulties. I wonder whether the cost of insurance is not anti-competitive in its effect. While somebody attempting to start off could be as negligent as a big five firm of solicitors, a daily sum in that amount, as an overhead, is vast and difficult to deal with. It would be hard for the owner of such a practice to get someone into their office to give them €500 a day in order to keep it open. That is the kind of thing we are dealing with.