Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the suggestion that the Minister needs to engage with the Bar of Ireland. The rate of attrition from the Law Library is enormous. Very few criminal barristers survive beyond year six because the rate of pay is just so appallingly low. A person can sit all day, get briefed for one bail application and earn €25. It is not understood that a small number of barristers are paid incredibly well but the vast majority are not.

On numerous occasions I have asked for statements in the House on the apartment defects scheme. This is a really good-news scheme from a Government perspective. More than €2 billion has been set aside to provide for remediation for apartment owners. However, there are some glitches along the way in apartment owners being able to access the money and in how that looks. Huge work is done all the time by the Minister. To be fair, there is progress. There is interplay between the Departments of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and Justice because the latter is over the Multi-Units Developments Act 2011. This has an impact on how owner management companies are regulated, overseeing their governance and the transparency with which they will administer these schemes. It is really important that we have statements in the House and be able to engage with the Minister, Deputy O' Brien, and to congratulate him for something he advocated for over a long period, both in opposition and as Minister, and has come through on his word. However, refinements need to happen, which need to be discussed in the House.I would ask that we have statements in that regard. I want to praise the Not Our Fault campaign, run by Sam and Odette Doran, who are doing all of this on a voluntary basis outside of their own jobs. They are supporting homeowners and developments throughout the country through their exceptional work in being a guinea pig for the Department of housing in the Park West development. If we could have statements on that, it would be fantastic.