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

This is a decision that was taken before I took over dealing with the Bill. The decision on the compensation fund was taken by the previous Minister and he took that decision for very good reasons. When the Bill was published originally, some of the detail of the work had clearly not been done. I have had a huge amount of detailed work to do in regard to the filling out of the various provisions of the Bill. The majority of the amendments I have tabled today have to do with the fact we now have an independent inspection and disciplinary oversight from the regulatory authority, and they also deal with the transitional issues, with the new disciplinary tribunal body and with various other issues on which none of the detailed work had been done. That is what I have been doing primarily.

In regard to the point raised by the Senator, this is not about the Bar Council but about the Law Society. It is about the compensation because barristers do not hold clients' moneys at present. The decision was taken that the compensation fund, in all its complexity, which has been handled by the Law Society for many decades would continue to be handled by the Law Society and that the State would not be liable in any way for that type of compensation should it arise. What we are doing is protective of the State. The key point is that the legal services regulatory authority, LSRA, still has complete oversight. There is a new independent regulatory authority which has oversight. There is also provision for people to sit on the committee. I will deal with that section later. This was a decision that was taken at an earlier point in the development of the Bill. I think it is an appropriate decision. If one were to move the compensation fund with all its complexities, involvement and management, one would be talking about a different sort of body. We are talking about an oversight body that has approximately 40 staff. If one were to move everything that is currently handled by the Law Society and the Bar Council, one would be talking about a different body taking over all that detailed work and the liability issues that arise. The purpose of section 50 is to take out what was in the original published Bill. However, there has been a journey in relation to it since. The reason it is being left with the Law Society is well founded. There is still the independent regulation in terms of financial activities, standards and monitoring of the various complex issues that can arise in regard to compensation.

In regard to the Senator's point about the Bar Council and comments that have been made about it, I have explained that I was given very strong advice on this issue and the constitutional difficulties that would arise due to forcing membership on a particular body. That is the reality of the advice I was given and the Government has decided it wants to see the legal services regulatory authority established rather than being tied up in potential constitutional issues that would undermine the whole legislation.