Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

The Chair is about to cut me off before I get started, which is very sad.

Updating legislation in the legal area is very important and must be undertaken on an ongoing basis. It is not uncommon to have to refer to Acts that are two centuries old. Incidentally, some of these Acts have stood the test of time well. When we go to amend them we find ourselves in slight difficulty. I do not propose to go into the minutiae of the particular Acts in question this evening. Nevertheless, I can think of one or two examples in my time in this House where Acts that were on the Statute Book for at least a century were amended, but subsequently they did not seem to stand the test of time as well. There are issues in that which we must deal with again.

In the short time available to me tonight I wish to indicate that the setting up of a legal services ombudsman is important. It is an important service and change in the legislation. It is significant in terms of protecting the public and the profession itself. The tendency to overly rely on self-regulation is beginning to wane and it is not as satisfactory as one would have liked. For some unknown reason, as time goes by, we have evidence of cases where the self-regulation system did not work to the benefit of the consumer.

The consumer is the person on whom all of us in this Parliament rely. They elect us to the House and are affected by the legislation we pass. If it comes to pass, as in the number of cases referred to by my colleague, that the legislation was not sufficiently watertight to ensure the protection of the individual, the issue should be examined. The provision is a good one. It updates legislation and will be of considerable benefit.

I do not know if I have sufficient time now to speak about what was once known as free legal aid, but I intend to speak about it when I have the opportunity. Free legal aid was a concept that came about when people who could not afford the cost of the legal system had an opportunity to avail of a free service. It was generally provided by law students. They learned much themselves and it was beneficial and educational to them. It was also very good for the community at large. That has been put on a statutory footing for several years now, and although it exists to some extent, it is not there to the extent that was originally intended.

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