Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There is no doubt that professional fees have been a problem area. Neither is there any doubt that the arrival of the troika has seen change, which had languished over many years. Recommendations of the Competition Authority were not implemented, for example. These have, by and large, been implemented or incorporated in the Legal Services Regulation Bill. There is significant change in access and in the competitive structure of the sector. It is, clearly, an ambition of Government to implement that legislation.

The National Consumer Agency has, indeed, been in touch with the Law Society of Ireland. The agency requested that indicative quotes for standard services be made available to consumers via websites and so on. It was suggested that the Law Society and the agency could draw up standard templates for a range of routine services which consumers could use to detail their requirements for particular services.

The Consumer Agency did an interesting survey of fees charged for various legal services. Its survey on conveyancing, for example, showed that quotes for a standard conveyancing ranged from €750 for the cheapest to €4,000 for the most expensive. There is, clearly, huge scope for more competitive delivery to business and consumers by shopping around.

The National Consumer Agency is, obviously, doing its best to make sure there is more price display, but the message is clear from the survey, which goes through conveyancing, making a will, probate and so on. There are huge savings to be made by shopping around. We are working with small business associations to get that message out to small businesses.

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