Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The citizen will go to a solicitor who will say that he or she wants €5,000 up front for taking the case. The citizens in question do not have that type of money. If they had, they would not go to such a solicitor. They would go directly to the top in Dublin.

I hope we will have a system with some fairness because this country has become unfair. I love putting on the record that the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and the middle class is getting squeezed. In recent years, the Government has looked after the rich. The legal profession has been looked after by the Government and, in particular, the system. We have seen many tribunals and the amount of money spent on law and order, but we are not getting any value. The tribunals are going on and on and are making many people in the Law Society of Ireland richer.

I want to see something happen. A few months ago, hundreds of people attended a meeting to create an organisation to take on the legal profession. I hope that the ombudsman will be given the power to investigate complaints. That we will get a few cranks making complaints is fine, but we must deal with genuine complaints and the people who have been aggrieved and let down by the system, solicitors, the Law Society of Ireland and the State, which gave them no protection. I hope the provision of an ombudsman will be the answer to people's problems, but the potential appointee should not take the job if he or she believes there is no power.

The Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland has the power to investigate and do her job. We want the same in respect of the proposed legal services ombudsman. There is no point in the Oireachtas introducing wishy washy legislation if the ombudsman is not given the power or is unsure as to whether he or she has the necessary power. Power must be given to the ombudsman to deal with problems. The Law Society of Ireland was given an opportunity. No organisation, be it the Garda, solicitors, politicians or others, should investigate itself. There should always be an independent person to do so.

Another matter upsets me. Previously, I raised the matter of a serious assault case in my constituency in which the Garda recommended prosecution but the victim's family received a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions stating he would not prosecute. I examined the DPP's report in which he stated he is not required to be answerable to anyone. That is not right, as the DPP should explain himself to the proposed ombudsman. Perhaps we could include such a provision in the Bill. My constituents' daughter was hit on the head by a wheel brace, but the State did not see fit to prosecute despite the Garda's recommendation. The family wrote to the DPP but has not received a reply. If a person or family was in a similar situation, he, she or they should be able to write to the ombudsman and ask him or her to intervene by inquiring of the DPP why a daughter was in hospital for a number of weeks after an assault or why the State did not see fit to prosecute. These are reasonable questions.

If the public is dissatisfied with the DPP's decision not to prosecute a case, someone should be answerable. People in every part of the country should be answerable to someone. We all make mistakes. There should be an appeal mechanism and the ombudsman should be used in this respect. If people make complaints about the DPP, they should be able to write to the ombudsman to investigate the matter. I would like to see this reasonable request included in the Bill.

Is the Government serious about giving people justice and tackling the problem of legal costs? Will the rich have justice while the poor has none? People referred to the free Legal Aid Board, which has a good set-up. However, it does not have enough funds or staff to deal with poor people's complaints. The only people who get free legal aid are murderers and rapists. They will be looked after while there are not enough resources, staff or money to take care of the people who really need protection, law and legal aid. This should be corrected immediately.

I hope the Government will take on the legal profession in respect of fees. It is unrealistic and wrong to deprive people of justice because they do not have sufficient resources or money. The time has come for this matter to be tackled. As a society, we must give people justice. If they want it, a lack of money should not prevent them from going to the Four Courts or taking a case.

During the years, people have complained to me about wills and being unable to get information from solicitors, who have been protected by the House and legislation. I welcome this legislation and hope that powers will be given to the ombudsman to ensure genuine complaints can be quickly dealt with, the relevant solicitors can be brought in and their offices can be entered so that answers will be given to the ombudsman's questions.

What has been happening has been wrong. The largest farce of all is the Law Society of Ireland. As we recently saw in respect of the redress board, the State paid solicitors who were also charging people. This was double charging. It took the Law Society of Ireland a long time to deal with the matter. I listened to its president on the radio, but he did not do himself or the legal profession justice. Wrong is wrong and one should not be paid twice for doing one's job. I hope the ombudsman will take this matter on.

I hope people will be able to approach the ombudsman directly rather than through the Law Society of Ireland. The latter case should not be allowed. There is no point in a case being before the Law Society of Ireland for 12 months and hoping that it will go away. Previously, justice has not been done.

I welcome the Bill. I cannot state strongly enough that there is no point in an ombudsman if he or she does not have the power to deal with the complaints received. First, the ombudsman must be given the powers, second, he or she must be given the staff and, third, there must be a timeframe in which to deal with queries. There are many people out there who are dissatisfied with the legal profession and feel there is no place to go. This, they hope, will be their saviour in the sense that at least there will be somewhere to go to make a complaint, that the complaint will be dealt with, they will not need to wait for years, they will not have solicitors investigating solicitors, the ombudsman will be able to adjudicate on their case and such adjudication will be legally binding on the solicitors. I hope that will happen soon.

I welcome the Bill. I hope that in the future the Minister will give the Legal Aid Board the resources and staff to give the poor of this country access to free legal aid to get the justice to which they are entitled. Just because such people do not have sufficient money to do so does not mean they should not have access to the law. They are as entitled to it as anybody else. The Legal Aid Board does a good job but is under much pressure. It does not have sufficient staff and resources, and it is not right that these resources are not provided.

I welcome the introduction of the legal services ombudsman. I hope that I will not need to return in 18 months' time to tell the House that we set up the ombudsman and it is not working because he or she does not possess the necessary powers or resources. I hope that I am wrong and that this will be the first time people will feel that there is somebody, between the legal profession and themselves, to protect them and adjudicate on their cases.

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