Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the new regulatory arrangements recommended by the Competition Authority regarding the Legal Services Bill; if it commented on the importance of maintaining the independence of the regulatory arrangements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37934/11]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 37: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality, in view of the extensive regulatory regime associated with the Legal Services Bill, if a regulatory impact assessment was carried out; if he will provide a copy of that assessment or outline its findings; if no impact assessment has been carried out, whether he intends to arrange to have one done; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37935/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 37 together.

In the Programme for National Recovery 2011-16, the Government has undertaken to "establish independent regulation of the legal professions to improve access and competition, make legal costs more transparent and ensure adequate procedures for addressing consumer complaints". The Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011, published on 12 October, provides the statutory framework for delivering these commitments.

By the same token, the Bill supports the urgent objectives of structural reform, national competitiveness and economic recovery contained in the EU-IMF-ECB Memorandum of Understanding, while taking account of relevant recommendations made by the Legal Costs Working Group in 2005 and by the Competition Authority in 2006. The intervening and unprecedented developments which necessitated the EU-IMF-ECB Memorandum continue to shape the Government's determination of appropriate policy responses, including in relation to legal services and legal costs.

On 17th October, I briefed the EU-IMF-ECB Troika on the provisions of the new Legal Services Regulation Bill. The Troika considered the Bill to have met both the spirit and the letter of the Government's relevant undertakings. I am confident that the new Legal Services Regulation Bill will contribute to better regulation and competitiveness in the provision of legal services in the State. There will be greater transparency and accountability in relation to legal costs for the benefit of all concerned. Officials of my Department have recently met with the Competition Authority which has been welcoming of the Bill and its key provisions - including that of establishing an independent regulator. Under the Bill -

- there will be a new and independent Legal Services Regulatory Authority with responsibility for oversight of both solicitors and barristers with a lay majority in its membership and a lay chair; the Bill contains a number of provisions to ensure that the Legal Services Regulatory Authority and the legal professions are free from government interference or control in the discharge of their functions

- there will be an independent complaints mechanism within the new regulatory authority to deal with allegations of professional misconduct against solicitors and barristers. This will be supported by a new independent Legal Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal which will be independent of the Regulatory Authority and of the professional bodies

- the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator will assume the role of the existing Office of the Taxing- Master. The new Office will have enhanced transparency in its functions and publish its determinations. The legal costs regime will be brought into the open with supporting guidelines and greater public entitlement to legal costs information.

The Second Stage debate on the Bill is expected to commence in the coming weeks and I will be outlining my intentions in relation to Committee Stage amendments at the appropriate time. I am, of course, open to further discussion on ways in which we might strengthen aspects of the Bill. I believe that, with the constructive engagement of all concerned, the Bill provides a framework within which we can achieve an appropriate balance of the principles of professional independence and of independent regulation and make them mutually reinforcing.

While a preliminary regulatory impact assessment had been in preparation it did not prove possible to complete it for publication at the same time as the Bill due to the exceptionally demanding EU/IMF deadline that applied. However, I am happy to say that work on a regulatory impact assessment for the Bill is near completion and that it will be made available in the near future.