Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I feel personally involved in this because I was a member of the committee on enterprise and small business which was faced with this dilemma in 2002. Senator Cassidy, who was a Deputy at the time, was chairman of that committee and former Deputy Martin Brady was vice-chairman. The committee spent many hours of work on this. We were most impressed with the strong submission made by Ms Dorothea Dowling. It was as a result of her submission and the impact of the previous Minister and the present Minister that the PIAB came into being.

The Minister, given his responsibility for trade, will be aware of the effect of this legislation. This is the first Bill the Minister has brought before the House since his re-appointment as Minister. I commend the Bill to the House, and hope it will be unanimously agreed by the Members. It is in the best interests of consumers. Solicitors have found plenty of work opportunities. They can be more constructively engaged in important legislation. There is an amount of registration work available with regard to new properties and the proper registration of those properties and of wills. The running of legal practices has changed slightly given that this lucrative cash cow is somewhat removed. Nevertheless, I have not met any hungry solicitors or barristers recently. They are surviving quite well on the work that is available. In this area, our concern is the consumer.