Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not want to cross swords with my learned colleague and good friend, Senator Barrett, but I am speaking from knowledge in my own area when I say that the days when a solicitor would charge 1.5% for conveyancing are well gone. According to the most recent information I have received from my own area of west Cork, the average charge is approximately one third of that 1.5% charge. I was the secretary of the West Cork Barristers Association in my younger days. What happens now is that people ring around from one solicitor to another to find a fellow who can do it €100 cheaper. It is extremely competitive. Maybe there was a monopoly during the boom, when bigger firms controlled much of this activity, but I think that has gone.

I would like to put a final point to the Minister before I conclude. I welcome the new regulatory authority on principle. The efficiency of that body will be critical for Joe Citizen, Josephine Citizen and the general public. I know the Minister cannot guarantee this, but I am laying down a marker that it has to be efficient for the members of the Law Society and the general public. Both groups deserve fairness. They deserve to have complaints or other matters dealt with quickly and efficiently. If the regulatory authority is to be a success, it is critical for it to be absolutely efficient and professional and to deal with complaints quickly. I appreciate that the Minister does not have a crystal ball and cannot look down the road, but I remind her that justice delayed is justice denied. If the new authority is not efficient, it will do no good for the complainant or for the person who is complained against.