Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 39:

In page 26, line 21, after "may" where it firstly occurs to insert ", after consultation with the professional bodies,".

These amendments arise out of previous discussions during earlier Stages of the Bill. As the Minister of State will be aware, there are staff in the Law Society of Ireland and the Bar Counsel who are already dealing with complaints mechanisms and are skilled in this area. As a result of the establishment of the new regulatory authority, their positions will become redundant. There is precedence in terms of ensuring that the establishment of a new body does not result in job losses. That is the objective of these three amendments. During discussions on earlier Stages of the Bill I received reassurance first from the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, and then from the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, the Government would be sympathetic to these issues and would try to ensure current skilled staff who are relevant, who could help to get the new authority up and running smoothly and who would have a lot to offer to the authority are retained. I accept there will be some degree of training required and new corporate management structures to be put in place and so on but the hope is that as few people as possible will be made redundant and that there will be no re-inventing of the wheel when there are people available who have worked in this field and can bring an awful lot to a new authority. I hope the Minister of State will be able to accept these amendments.

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