Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I am grateful to the Minister of State for indicating his willingness to consider this important point. He is as aware as I am that there is anecdotal evidence of high levels of attrition. When we did our study, we were concerned to get hard data on that. We found that neither the Bar Council nor the Law Society was able — I am not sure they were not willing — to provide information on attrition in the profession. They simply did not keep figures on attrition. Part of the ombudsman's great service to the public should be to ensure that such figures are kept. Exit interviews, which are quite common in other sectors, should be conducted with people when they leave the legal profession. We need a better sense of the number of people leaving the profession and their reasons for doing so.

I am glad to say that one of the positive consequences of our report was that the Law Society adopted the recommendation that its members should pay women solicitors a full salary during maternity leave. That had not previously been the practice. We found that it was one of the real impediments to the retention of women in the profession. I understand the Bar Council has adopted a similar policy, to the effect that women members pay reduced fees during what is, in effect, their period of maternity leave. As barristers are self-employed, they do not have the same statutory pay and leave rights. These practical changes are important if we are to increase the rate of retention of highly qualified and able barristers and solicitors. I hope the ombudsman will be able to keep this sort of thing under review.