Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

This amendment inserts additional provisions in section 67 of the Act of 1998 to further clarify matters relating to the Equality Authority's role in providing assistance to persons in taking proceedings under the Act. The principal new provision is contained in the new subsection (5). This makes explicit that the relationship between a solicitor employed by the authority or a barrister retained by such a solicitor and a person requesting assistance under this section is the normal solicitor-client or barrister-client relationship. This is a necessary safeguard and will remove any doubt about issues of confidentiality etc.

The provision is balanced in subsection (6) with the clarification that the normal rights and responsibilities integral to the relationship between the authority and the solicitors employed by it is not prejudiced. Subsection (7) makes a further clarification to the section to remove any doubt as to how certain provisions of the Solicitors Act 1954 are to be applied in respect of solicitors employed by the authority and providing assistance to persons under this section. Section 59 of the Solicitors Act prohibits a solicitor acting as an agent for an unqualified person, while section 64 makes a similar prohibition in the case of bodies corporate. Subsection (8) defines key terms used in these provisions. In a nutshell, there is provision whereby the authority can get a solicitor or barrister to represent somebody in a case in those circumstances. The relationship between the client being helped and the barrister or solicitor employed by the authority will be the normal solicitor-client relationship. All the rules that apply to the average solicitor-client relationship will apply to that relationship.