Results 7,201-7,220 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I will reply unless somebody else wishes to contribute.

Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank Deputies for their contributions. I repeat that there are a number of critical elements within in the provisions I am proposing in the form of codes. I want to make the point again about balance. We are discussing the role of the new independent regulatory authority in regard to the professions. What I am proposing in order to achieve the type of balance about which Deputies are...

Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 2:In page 10, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:“ “legal advice” means any oral or written advice—(a) on the application of the law (whether the law of the State, another state or the European Union, international law, or a combination of these) to any particular circumstances that have arisen or may arise in relation to a...

Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I will answer Deputy Collins's question first. It became apparent since the publication of the Bill in 2011 that there was a lack of clarity on the persons to whom the Bill should apply. We needed to set out who, among all the people in the State who have legal qualifications, ought to be subject to the authority's regulatory regime and be subject to the payment of the levy that will fund...

Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report and Final Stages (11 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The point is that, in regard to solicitors, the matter is already long defined. There was no question of unravelling that definition, which is in the Acts already. The definitions we are including today on barristers are consequent to our having examined the legislation in quite a number of other countries. This is not unique to Ireland. What is to be included is a straightforward...

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Second Stage (11 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." Deputies will recall that the programme for Government indicated that the necessary steps to create a permanent court of appeal would be taken during the lifetime of the Government. On foot of that commitment, a referendum was held on 4 October 2013 and the proposal to establish a court of appeal was agreed to by the people. During the...

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Second Stage (11 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The reform proposals were favoured by those who engaged in the consultation process on the issue. They will also ensure the Supreme Court will only hear cases that merit its attention and make certain that there is coherence to the courts architecture, which is not the case currently. It is worth recalling that there has been continuing growth in High Court litigation, which has seen the...

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Second Stage (11 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: The matter is before the courts.

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I thank all the Deputies who contributed to this debate. Some of them will have been in the House this time last year. If they checked their diaries from that time they will have seen it is precisely one year to the day when the Second Stage debate on the Thirty-third Amendment of the Constitution (Court of Appeal) Bill 2013 took place. At that time it was indicated that an establishment...

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Second Stage (Resumed) (11 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: On Tuesday next.

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 1:In page 11, to delete lines 19 and 20 and substitute the following:"(9) In this section—(a) 'the establishment day' has the same meaning as it has in section 2of the Act of 2014, and (b) a reference to an 'interlocutory application' includes a reference to an application which may be made under any enactment to the Court of Appeal in criminal proceedings...

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 2:In page 12, line 9, to delete "of the proceedings" and substitute the following:"of those proceedings, which order of discontinuance shall be confined to the grounds upon which the Supreme Court granted leave to appeal".Section 9 of the Bill as published allows the court of appeal to stay proceedings to enable an applicant to apply to the Supreme Court for leave to...

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 3:In page 12, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following:"President of Court of Appeal may issue practice directions10.The Act of 1961 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 7B (inserted by section 9of the Court of Appeal Act 2014):"7C.(1) In the interests of the administration of justice and the determination of proceedings in a manner...

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: We have a commitment in our programme for Government about the reform of judicial appointments that we intend to keep. I believe we have excellent judges in this country, as the Deputy has said. Obviously given the critical importance of the role of our courts and our Judiciary, we have been very fortunate when one considers the experience of other countries in judicial appointments. Both...

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: Deputy Creighton is speaking about qualifications and experience on a curriculum vitae. It was not clear from the amendment precisely what the Deputy had in mind in respect of publication. I assure Deputy Creighton that the issues of transparency and accountability in the process of judicial appointments will be fully considered in the review process. There should be no doubt about that....

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I touched on that matter. I take the Deputy's point on some of the ironies that arise in this discussion. While we all accept the need to reform the system after 20 years, we all agree that we have been lucky with the Judiciary. I have no hesitation making that statement and I expect every Deputy agrees with it in respect of judicial action and decision making over the decades. The...

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 7aIn page 17, line 33, to delete “section 7B” and substitute “section 7C”.

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 8:In page 17, line 35, to delete “7C. It shall” and substitute “7D. It shall”.

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 9:In page 28, to delete lines 24 to 27 and substitute the following:“(i) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):“(3A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (3), an interlocutory application relating to an appeal before the Supreme Court or, unless the appeal itself is confined to a procedural matter, any procedural...

Court of Appeal Bill 2014: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Jul 2014)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 10:In page 32, to delete line 24.Notwithstanding the amount of text contained in these amendments, they are in reality very straightforward and, like many of the other amendments relating to this Bill, they are also quite technical. In essence, they introduce a further amendment into the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act 1962 to cater specifically for the various...