Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Senator Bacik's points are well made. The purpose of section 15(1)(b) is to ensure that the ombudsman tests whether there is competition, whether prices are being kept as low as possible and whether people can access the available legal advice. Those guiding criteria were selected with regard to the Competition Authority's previous report on this area. As I said during the debate on section 9, one of the functions of the legal services ombudsman will be to try to ensure the admissions policy is improved. The annual report that is submitted to the Government will be significant. The admissions policy will reflect whether people are being retained in the profession. The Law Library found six or seven years ago that the rate of attrition was very high. It found that approximately 40% of those who were admitted to practice were no longer practising five years later. It is a very high level of attrition. One of the functions of the legal services ombudsman will be to examine the available information and prepare a report on the patterns that emerge. As Senator Bacik said, the socioeconomic significance of the figures in question will have to be examined. It is an important function of the ombudsman.