Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I am more puzzled by this group of amendments and would like to hear about their origin from the Minister of State. When the Bill started out in life, it included, essentially, many of the sections that have since become the Legal Services Ombudsman Bill. By agreement, these sections were stripped from the Bill at the time to comprise a stand-alone Bill for all of the reasons we know. It seems that this group of amendments ought to be included in that Bill. I am puzzled to know why we are here dealing with amendments that have to do with complaints against members of the legal profession, specifically solicitors, when we are dealing with a different Bill designed precisely for that purpose. Is it that this is an afterthought on the part of the Minister? Does it arise from representations from the Law Society arising from what have been euphemistically referred to as recent events? Why are they being dealt with in this Bill and not the Legal Services Ombudsman Bill? It is also somewhat surprising and the first time I have become aware of it. I thought the Law Society was supposed to be doing this for a very long time. The Minister of State seems to be saying it may be doing so but that there is no statutory basis for it and that he is now providing such a statutory basis for the society for the avoidance of doubt.

I also wonder about the retrospective element. Is it feared that there will be a challenge to it? Subsection (2) of amendment No. 10 seems to anticipate or wants to protect against solicitors who might challenge it. I refer to where a question of constitutional rights might be at issue. It states: "If subsection (1) would, but for this subsection, conflict with a constitutional right of any person, the operation of that subsection shall be subject to such limitation as is necessary to secure that it does not so conflict but shall otherwise be of full force and effect". That is a somewhat unusual belt and braces provision. While is not unique, it is unusual. We are dealing with the power of the Law Society to investigate alleged misconduct by solicitors. Is it just a belt and braces measure to deal with cases where a constitutional right may appear to have been infringed, or does it anticipate a challenge on that basis?

On the face of it, the amendments ought to be included in the Legal Services Ombudsman Bill. When a miscellaneous provisions Bill such as this is put together, there are widely diverging areas of civil law encompassed in it. If one were a practitioner, it is not exactly the most convenient way to go about our business but I am intrigued as to why the amendments are not included in the Legal Services Ombudsman Bill.

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