Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

Section 56 deals with representation on the PIAB board. This amendment seeks to make it mandatory for a member of the Law Society to be on the board. We reject the amendment. The Law Society is not an interest which the PIAB is mandated to represent. The PIAB does not represent solicitors, but consumers, employers and employees. The board deals with claimants and respondents, so it is just and proper that they should be represented on the board.

Under section 56, which deals with the composition of the board, each member of the board "shall be a person who, in the Minister's opinion, has experience in a field of expertise relevant to the board's function." The interim board has on it a qualified barrister, Professor Denis Cusack, and a solicitor, Francis Cooke. The PIAB will also have staff with legal expertise, so there will be plenty of legal expertise available both at board and staff level.