Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is a danger under this section to do with regulatory capture. As we know from the banking inquiry, a good regulator should, in the wider public interest, be independent of the sector he or she is regulating. Both the Law Society and the Bar Council have done a splendid job on behalf of their clients in resisting change for the past 38 years or so. Do we expect them now to become agents of change? There is a risk in this regard, and it is a substantial one, in requiring a Pauline conversion by the people involved whereby they would now become pro-consumer having previously represented producers.