Results 12,321-12,340 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I wish to go through these amendments. Basically, these are the Parts of the Bill that deal with the range of areas concerning the efforts the authority will make to facilitate resolution of complaints. For example, amendment No. 61 permits the authority to seek resolution of complaints relating to inadequate service. Amendment No. 62 allows the authority to consider excessive costs. The...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It might be helpful were I to inform the Senator that the legal services regulatory authority, LRSA, will have the potential to refer directly. Consequently, this can be done to the new body that replaces the Taxing Master.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I would be inclined to leave that to the management of the legal services regulatory authority. Obviously, these reviews could vary in terms of substance in that some could be relatively straightforward whereas others might be more complicated. It will consist of three members, two of whom shall be lay members. Where the complaint refers to a solicitor, one member of the committee shall be...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This group of amendments deals with the establishment and procedures of a new complaints committee. Amendment No. 68 is a key provision which obliges the authority to refer a complaint to the complaints committee where it has determined that the complaint is an admissible complaint, and we have already discussed the range of areas where a complaint can be made or where the matter has not...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The complaints committee consists of 27 members, the majority of whom will be lay people. The law society shall have eight members. The Bar Council have four. Members are appointed for a period of four years and shall be eligible for reappointment. Lay members must be independent of the professional bodies but have some expertise or knowledge of the provisions of legal service or...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: No, just available.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: To answer the Senator's question in more detail, I should have said that the Bill provides that the complaints committee shall act in divisions of not less than three and not more than five members but must have an uneven number and a majority of lay members.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is a long series of amendments which relate to a core aspect of the complaints and discipline elements of Part 5 – the legal practitioners disciplinary tribunal. A new section 64 is inserted by Amendment No. 74. That is providing for the establishment, in law, of the new legal practitioners disciplinary tribunal. Unlike the existing disciplinary framework where each legal...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Amendment No. 98 as proposed by Senator Barrett would prevent the new regulatory authority from raising a levy on those barristers who will be regulated by it and who choose to practise outside the Law Library model. It would also prevent the authority from issuing the relevant notice to those practitioners or professional bodies which would give rise to its regulatory costs each year. I am...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Senators should keep in mind that the practitioners are just responsible for a block of 10% of costs. The remainder is divided between other bodies.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Bill allows for the introduction of a range of new business models. These include legal partnerships which are partnerships between solicitors and barristers or between barristers only and multidisciplinary practices and which allow for the provision of legal and other services by one firm. As a result of amendment No. 99 and other amendments tabled, the Bill will provide for the...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Which amendment is the Senator referring to?

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This essentially states that one cannot be a partner in a multidisciplinary partnership if one is unqualified which is defined elsewhere.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I understand why the Senator raises this, but subsections (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of the section outline the circumstances in which somebody who was a solicitor now comes under the term "unqualified person" under the Solicitors Act because they had been struck off the Roll of Solicitors, been suspended from practise, had the issue of a practising certificate to him or her refused under...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: In terms of definition, that word has been there since 1954 and there is precedent in that regard. It is the definition in the Solicitors Acts. We are amending those Acts but there is no information available to me that it has led to any problems. I will check it out, but I do not believe it has.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is just a technical description.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Amendment No. 112 obliges the managing legal partner in a multidisciplinary practice to manage the practice in such a way as to ensure that the provision of legal services is in accordance with the provisions of the Bill and adheres to the professional principles set out in the Bill. Amendment No. 113 places positive obligations on the managing legal partner to ensure this happens.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The managing legal partner will manage the legal services.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (19 Nov 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes, on the legal side.