Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo what Senator Bacik has said about the Northern Ireland agreement, A Fresh Start, which includes compensation for the removal of the peace walls. I hope the latter will be possible. There will also be a fund to secure, once and for all, the end of paramilitary groups, which have done much damage. There is also some funding for project relating to the A5, which connects Aughnacloy, Derry and Monaghan. Watching the Stormont proceedings when the negotiations were on, it was clear that there is a working Parliament there of which all the Members can be proud. That is surely an advance over the previous situations which obtained in Northern Ireland. Nostalgia in the Ulster Unionist Party for traditional opposition is misplaced. A power-sharing government is the way to proceed. Traditional opposition politics along the lines of the Westminster model was tried for 50 years and it did not work. It is not a society that needs an adversarial model.

I note with concern that it is proposed to take the Legal Services Regulation Bill tomorrow. What we know about the Bill indicates serious disarray in the Department of Justice and Equality. Well after 8 p.m. last night, I received 68 pages of text from the Minister containing 159 amendments. I do not think it is much of a Bill and I have tabled 37 amendments - across five pages - in respect of it. Our colleagues in Sinn Féin have tabled 24 amendments and these cover eight pages. It appears we are ignoring the advice of the troika to the effect that Ireland has a serious high-cost legal system that is damaging the economy. Why do we implement cutbacks in respect of carers and social welfare and not implement the troika proposals regarding the legal system? We are also ignoring the advice of the National Competitiveness Council about the damage which high legal costs are causing. There is a report of approximately 200 pages in length from the former Competition Authority which points out that the Irish legal system is in need of serious root-and-branch reform. We need separate conveyancing from the monopoly and the right to talk to a barrister without solicitors milking that transaction for fees. The Bill we are due to discuss tomorrow seems to be a shambles. It does not take into account the research that has been prepared. In addition, it is being dealt with at the last minute, which is a bad way to proceed with legislation. We should at least have the weekend to go through, as the Minister has, the 159 faults she sees with the Bill. There are lots more as well. We should not be taking that at less than 48 hours notice tomorrow. If it is too late to take that item off the Order of Business for tomorrow, I wish to raise it today. It is not the way we should be proceeding. The Irish legal system needs massive overhaul and reform. It is not effective, it is high cost and it exercises far too much influence over the Department of Justice and Equality and at the Cabinet table.