Results 8,761-8,780 of 11,842 for speaker:Niall Collins
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: My question on the appointment of members to achieve a gender balance on the authority's board relates to this and the previous section. If all of the nominees are male or female, how does the Minister propose to tackle the situation?
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: I know.
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: I move amendment No. 21: In page 15, before section 9, to insert the following new section:"9.--(1) Subject to this Act, the Authority shall be responsible for overseeing the regulation of the provision of legal services by legal practitioners in the State, in an independent manner and shall ensure the maintenance and improvement of standards in the provision of such services in the State....
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: My concerns are similar to those of the Minister but I am coming at it from a different angle. If it is to be an authority to regulate the legal services industry, and the board is broken down six to five, immediately the main legal players find themselves in a minority on the board. Is this correct?
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: I know.
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: The breakdown of board membership is six to five, with one representative each from the Bar Council, the Legal Aid Board, and the Kings Inns and two from the Law Society, with six more from the other parties plus the chairperson-----
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: The chair will come from the six lay people. Is this correct?
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: Will the Minister examine another composition? We propose 13 members and the Minister proposes 11. A total of 13 would give equilibrium.
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: If there is a division the chair will have a casting vote.
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: Is the Minister open to considering our proposal to recalibrate it? Is the Minister sticking on 11?
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: It is a fair point to state the law profession should have equal representation around the board table rather than being in a minority.
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: We will have a chairperson.
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: I move amendment No. 8: In page 13, before section 8, to insert the following new section:"8.—(1) The Authority shall consist of 13 members. (2) Subject to the provisions of this section, the members of the Authority shall be appointed by the Government and shall consist of the following persons:(a) 2 persons nominated by the Bar Council of Ireland; (b) 2 persons nominated by the Law...
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: I move amendment No. 9: In page 13, lines 6 to 10, to delete subsection (2) and substitute the following:"(2) (a) The members of the Authority, other than the lay members, shall be appointed by the Government. (b) The lay members of the Authority shall be appointed by the President of the High Court.".
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: All of us in our amendments have offered the option that the President of the High Court would appoint the lay members. Can the Minister give us his reasons for rejecting that?
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: We are discussing a group of ten amendments. The Minister is sticking with amendment No. 11. Does this include the chair or will the position of chair be in addition? The initial concern was that the Minister, his office or his successor, when we all move on, would have too much influence in the appointing of members. The Minister has gone some way towards addressing those concerns. Can...
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: I have a final key point.
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: I understand.
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: I understand but it is a key point. To ensure a complete RIA, outside interested parties will want to make informed submissions to the Minister on foot of these amendments and they will have to be afforded an opportunity to do that as well. Squeezing into a few days before we next sit needs to be examined.
- Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011: Committee Stage (17 Jul 2013)
Niall Collins: I tabled a similar amendment to Deputy Mac Lochlainn but we differ on the numbers relating to the different representative bodies, although we agree on the net figure of 13.