Results 12,621-12,640 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The work we have done on this section strengthens the provisions in the original Bill. It is based on the legislation concerning search warrants and money laundering.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is to deal with something in the original Bill, but there is a different situation now. It deletes the provisions relating to the ability of the authority to make regulations about interest on client moneys. This is being done to reflect the fact that the Law Society of Ireland will perform this role as part of its retained functions for the financial and compensation fund spheres....

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is a decision that was taken before I took over dealing with the Bill. The decision on the compensation fund was taken by the previous Minister and he took that decision for very good reasons. When the Bill was published originally, some of the detail of the work had clearly not been done. I have had a huge amount of detailed work to do in regard to the filling out of the various...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is the section where I accept the amendment proposed by Senator Sean D. Barrett to change the language from "may" to "shall" in regard to the new regulatory authority's discretion to make regulations requiring legal practitioners to main professional indemnity insurance. That is in amendment No. 54. Government amendment No. 51 makes additional provision to the section. It does this to...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Bill provides for legal partnerships. That is the reality. The Bill also has a strong section providing that no professional body can take any action that would interfere with the setting up of a partnership and cannot do anything that would be considered to be an interference with the setting up of such a practice. There are 100 barristers operating outside of the Bar Council. There...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: That is a description used by the Senator.The Bill provides a situation where no professional body can take action that would be seen to interfere with the setting up of a partnership. The Bar Council has its rules and I have taken constitutional advice regarding forcing membership onto the Bar Council.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This series of amendments Nos. 61 to 65 are taken separately and are relevant to the numbering of the various paragraphs and subsections.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: These amendments are included to ensure a smooth transition to the new regulatory authority in regard to these issues and for clarity and consistency for the hand-over. Many amendments are improvements in the drafting. There are a lot of improvements in the drafting. The core of the amendments is to make crystal clear that all new complaints will go to the new authority after enactment....

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is a complex Bill and it has had a long run of amendments since it was published. It does engage complex legal and constitutional issues and it covers a very wide span; the inspection, the complaints, the new business models, the new office of the legal costs adjudicator, the charter, and powers for the new authority and the levy which the authority can impose. There has been much...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have not. I am recommending these amendments.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is to be inserted by amendment No. 52 on Committee Stage.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It went in on Committee Stage.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I discussed that on Committee Stage. I have explained why it would be a decision arrived at by the Law Society. The phrase "the opinion of the Law Society" has been used because it will regulate the solicitors' accounts regulations.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have said that it is a complex Bill. These are a series of amendments which are very much drafting improvements. There is no change whatsoever in the policy issue we discussed on Committee Stage. In fact, these are detailed amendments to improve the Bill from a drafting point of view, the drafter having taken a further look at the overall section. As I said, the purpose of the...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: There are asterisks, footnotes and various other things, as the Senator will see when he reads the amendments.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: An amendment can take up that much room, and there are many technical amendments.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Amendments Nos. 74 to 77, inclusive, provide simply for the changes in numbering of the sections.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: That is right. As there are some extra sections in the Bill, particularly dealing with complaints and disciplinary issues which we inserted in Part 5, there is a change in the numbering of sections. This is simply a change in the numbering.

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: As I have said, many of the amendments being introduced are technical amendments required because of the change and the new insertions in the Bill. That has led to a renumbering of the amendments. Obviously when one inserts a new section all the numbers on the other sections have to be changed. This is one of a series of amendments reflecting the change to the number of the section we are...

Seanad: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Report Stage (Resumed) (1 Dec 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: The Bills Office put a hash mark in as an aid to Senators following the Bill and there is a reference. That is all that it is in the Bill.