Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 504: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action he has taken in relation to each of the 29 recommendations contained in the Competition Authority's December 2006 report on competition in the legal profession; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26331/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Of the 29 recommendations contained in the Competition Authority Report on Solicitors and Barristers, 15 relate to actions by my Department some of which are also directed at the Bar Council and the Law Society. Implementation of recommendations directed at the Bar Council or the Law Society is a matter for those bodies.

The main recommendation is that legislation be brought forward to establish a Legal Services Commission to regulate both solicitors and barristers and the market for legal services. A further 7 recommendations relate to the functions of the Legal Services Commission. The Commission would have responsibility for the regulation of the legal services but would delegate many regulatory functions to other/existing bodies. The Commission would have statutory powers to make new regulations and to veto the rules of self-regulatory bodies. The Commission would set standards for the provision of professional education for solicitors and barristers. The Law Society and King's Inns, in common with other education providers, would be required to apply and meet these requirements. The Law Society and the Bar Council would be obliged to set out detailed criteria pursuant to which they would licence institutions to provide courses.

Government policy on the need for changes in relation to the legal professions is reflected in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006 which provides for the establishment of a Legal Services Ombudsman and provides also for a number of other matters. The Legal Services Ombudsman will—

provide a form of review for customers of legal services who are dissatisfied with the outcome of a complaint made to the Law Society or Bar Council.

oversee the complaints procedures of the Law Society and Bar Council by examining a selection of complaints files each year taken on a random basis.

oversee admission to the legal professions, particularly with regard to the adequacy of numbers admitted.

Consultations are ongoing with the legal professions and other Government Departments on the matter of the statutory Irish language requirements for barristers and solicitors which the Authority has recommended be abolished. I have proposals to proceed on the issues by way of Committee Stage amendments to the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006.

A number of other recommendations made by the Authority fall to be considered within the context of the Legal Costs Bill that is included in the Government's Legislative Programme approved by the Chief Whip on 25 September 2007. Work is underway in my Department on the development of proposals. There are no proposals for the establishment of a Legal Services Commission.

I should point out that both the Law Society and Bar Council have on several recent occasions indicated their willingness to take measures to improve the services which they offer to the public. The Law Society established a Regulatory Review Task Force to examine the procedures and systems by which the Society regulates its members and interacts with the public. The Task Force, chaired by Joe Brosnan, a former Secretary General, carried out a thorough review and made fifty-six recommendations, all of which were accepted by the Council of the Law Society. Examples of other measures are the setting up in September 2006 of a second training school in Cork for solicitors by the Law Society and the introduction in March 2006 of reforms by the Bar Council to update its code of conduct. The Bar Council have also improved its work practices, allowed for advertising, allowed for free transfer between the two professions and provided for cost-sharing amongst barristers. I welcome these measures which I consider to be very positive steps in embracing change rather than opposing it.

A number of the recommendations in the Brosnan Report and other matters raised in consultation between the Law Society and my Department require statutory backing (e.g. by providing for a majority of lay membership of regulatory committees and better enforcement of orders of the Solicitors Disciplinary Committee) and these are being provided for in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006.