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

I have said that it is a complex Bill. These are a series of amendments which are very much drafting improvements. There is no change whatsoever in the policy issue we discussed on Committee Stage. In fact, these are detailed amendments to improve the Bill from a drafting point of view, the drafter having taken a further look at the overall section. As I said, the purpose of the amendments is to provide clarity and consistency.

The key policy point is that there will be independent access. All new complaints will go to the new authority after the enactment of the Bill. This is a major change. In future, all complaints about legal services, rather than going to a committee within the Law Society, which has operated under legislation to date, or the Bar Council, which provided an annual report on its activities, will go to an independent body. I ask Senators to reflect on that key policy point. I appreciate that there are a lot of amendments, but they are to improve the drafting of the Bill, for the purposes of consistency and clarity and to ensure a smooth transition from those committees to the new legal services regulatory authority.