Results 261-280 of 4,414 for speaker:Sean Barrett

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

Sean Barrett: I wish to express my complete disappointment with this Bill. It does nothing about the conveyancing monopoly which imposes a cost on every person who buys a house in this country. The costs are way in excess of those which obtain in the United Kingdom. That damages our competitiveness. The Bill does nothing about the right of audience to a barrister without having a solicitor present. It...

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

Sean Barrett: I am obliged to communicate that to the Minister. One of the problems that Senator O'Donovan raised related to how, as in accountancy, three or four firms now dominate legal services. That will increase under this Bill. There is no mention in the Bill of how to deal with an oligopoly. The authors of the Bill have obviously discounted everything that the Competition and Consumer Protection...

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

Sean Barrett: I hope I am not confusing the issue, but amendment No. 3 proposes to delete the following:"admissible complaint" means a complaint which---(a) is received by the Authority not later than 3 years after the occurrence of the act or omission which it is alleged constitutes misconduct (unless the complaint relates to fraud or dishonesty by a legal practitioner), or (b) is not a complaint to...

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

Sean Barrett: Does that mean it will come up later?

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

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for her comments about amendment No. 49.

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

Sean Barrett: I have concerns about the amendment as proposed by the Minister. Not later than two years after the establishment, the review starts and then within 12 months there is a report. We are extending the conveyancing monopoly for approximately four years. There is no need for any review as it has been done in 200 pages by the Competition Authority. It can be done by comparing conveyancing...

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

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister. I have seen a reference to the timetable under which the new authority will work. As far as I can recall - of course I am liable to error - it will be talking about education and will be addressing the conveyancing issue. People want that issue to be addressed because it is the one that really hurts the consumers of legal services. I am afraid, with the best will in...

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

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister. She is quite right when she says that the share of the independent conveyancers is quite small. However, they have put manners on the established soliciting firms, to use a colloquial term. Their costs for conveyancing are much lower. I do not care how many new conveyancers there are. We have to get away from the system that involves 1.5% of the price of a house, or...

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

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister for her reply. The figure of 1.5% came from a returning emigrants' website which stated that the difference between the United Kingdom and Ireland is that one pays 1.5%. I know that is a quote that is dear to this Minister's heart and that of the Minister for Finance. In the context of trying to attract the people who left during the recession to come back here, it is...

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

Sean Barrett: A person is disqualified from being a member of the authority when he or she ceases to be resident in the State. Last week, the Oireachtas elected Senator Máiría Cahill who is not resident in the State. An incredible record of service has been given to the Seanad by persons from Northern Ireland. No one has ever stated that they should not be here because they are not resident in...

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

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister. It is the generosity of spirit which we recognise. It could be misinterpreted and it would be silly to allow that to happen. I speak on behalf of a constituency with a substantial number of people from Northern Ireland in it. I would not like to see them disbarred from anything cross-Border because I value their presence so hugely. Every Department and House of the...

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

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 20:In page 21, line 10, to delete “in each period of three months” and substitute “per month”. Section 13 deals with the frequency of meetings. As drafted, the section provides that the authority shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the due performance of its functions but in each year shall hold not less than one...

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

Sean Barrett: I thank the Minister. My concern is about whether, under modern corporate governance, the idea that one could meet only every three months would have any acceptability. I hope it is read in conjunction with what the Minister has just said. The other finding of the banking inquiry is that the executives had far too much power and the boards did not, and it cost us the €64 billion....

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

Sean Barrett: If we are going to have incorporeal meetings, the kind of technology the Minister has in mind is the correct way to proceed, and definitely not the kind used in the decision on the bank guarantee.

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

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 22:In page 25, lines 35 and 36, to delete “in such manner as it considers appropriate” and substitute “following public advertisement”. The amendment deals with consultation. The Bill specifies "in such manner as it considers appropriate". There are two parties to a consultation, the other party being the public. This is why my amendment...

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

Sean Barrett: The purpose of the amendment is to ensure it complies with an obligation to consult, particularly as part of the background. As people said earlier, there was a feeling that insiders got the jump regarding the legislation, although the Minister will disagree. Why not have public advertisement? Amendment No. 24 seeks to insert the words "or any other person" after "practitioner". Perhaps I...

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

Sean Barrett: I apologise for the confusion. The purpose of amendment No. 24 is to insert "or any other person" after "practitioner" on page 26, line 8 such that it states:The High Court, on application to it by a legal practitioner or any other person who is affected by a code of practice, made within 28 days of the issuing by the Authority of that code, may, where it considers that the code of conduct...

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

Sean Barrett: There is a danger under this section to do with regulatory capture. As we know from the banking inquiry, a good regulator should, in the wider public interest, be independent of the sector he or she is regulating. Both the Law Society and the Bar Council have done a splendid job on behalf of their clients in resisting change for the past 38 years or so. Do we expect them now to become...

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

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 31:In page 32, line 19, after “Authority” to insert “subject to the approval of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission”. This amendment was tabled in the context of guarding the guardians, so to speak. The authority should not have the power to increase fees without any checks and balances, which could be provided by the Minister...

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

Sean Barrett: I move amendment No. 34:In page 35, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:“(d) the right of direct access to a barrister other than through a solicitor;”. This amendment deals with territory we have already been over in the context of the work programme of the new body. Education and training is first, followed by subsection (1)(b) on unification. Subsection (1)(c)...