Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This amendment has been tabled to make it clear that the definition of a "professional body" means the Bar Council, the Law Society or such other body of legal practitioners as the authority may prescribe.The substitution of "Authority" for "Minister" is in line with the overall objective of the Bill, which is to have an independent body established to regulate legal services. We will now have a new regulatory authority which will perform many of the functions that were previously completely by reference to the Minister for Justice and Equality. This is obviously a change that came in very early on in the discussions in the Dáil that we should have an independent body. In the early publication of the Bill, the Minister had quite a number of roles in relation to the body. They have all been changed now. It is very clearly an independent regulatory legal services authority that is being established. This makes it clear that in relation to the definition of professional body, it is the authority which decides on that and not the Minister.

There are a number of technical amendments from a public interest point of view. The line Minister for the sector approves, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, the holding or disposal of land by a public body. This is a fairly normal provision and obviously there is some management in terms of the remuneration and allowance levels for board members and that would be overseen in the normal way by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and by the Minister. Most of the other amendments are to do with prudential oversight by the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, of various fees and expenses rates for the committee members. The main point is that the legal services regulatory authority is the body that decides these issues in relation to professional bodies.