Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

There is no charge for the complainant. Under section 21(10), the complaint to the legal services ombudsman may be made by any person on behalf of another person. That relates to the capacity of the person on whose behalf the complaint is being made. A further safeguard against anything untoward in that regard can be found in section 22(4)(b), which states that the legal services ombudsman may decide not to investigate a complaint if he or she is satisfied the person making the complaint has an insufficient interest in the matter. There are safeguards.

Senator O'Donovan mentioned the solicitors' disciplinary tribunal. The right balance is found here. The Bill does not get rid of the tribunal, it gives a vote of confidence in it while providing an extra dimension. Section 22 states that the ombudsman can go ahead with the investigation of a complaint if the Law Society does not get on with it in sufficient time. By reading the two sections together, the right balance is struck between preserving the good practice that has existed until now and providing an extra safeguard for the future, which is the purpose of the Bill