Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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173. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 159, 161, 163 and 174 of 16 September 2016, when the provisions implementing sections 149 to 161 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 will commence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30813/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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As I have outlined to the Deputy and other Members of the House in my Written Reply of 16 September 2016, the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 makes extensive provision in Part 10 for a new and enhanced legal costs regime that will bring greater transparency to how legal costs are charged along with a better balance between the interests of legal practitioners and those of their clients in this area. Part 10 of the Act is divided into five Chapters of which Chapter 3, consisting of sections 149 to 153, deals with the duties of legal practitioners in relation to legal costs. The remaining Chapters of this Part deal with other aspects of the new legal costs regime including the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators that will take over the work currently carried out by the Office of the Taxing-Master along with the way in which the new legal costs adjudication process will operate. All legal practitioners will be obliged, under the transparency provisions of Chapter 3, to provide more detailed information about legal costs from the outset of their dealings with clients. The details of these transparency provisions remain as set out in my Written Reply of 16 September to which the Deputy has referred.

The provisions of Part 10 of the Legal Services Regulation Act provide, in Chapter 2, or the changeover from the existing Office of the Taxing-Master to the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators. The new and enhanced legal costs adjudication process is found in Chapter 4 of Part 10 as set out in my previous Reply.

It remains the case that there is no impediment to the various provisions of Part 10 taking effect other than that of ensuring, through detailed planning and sequencing, that the relevant legal and administrative arrangements are properly in place. This includes within the Courts system where the adjudications of legal costs under the new structure will be conducted in succession to the existing taxation of costs regime. The Deputy will appreciate that a significant transformation of the existing taxation of costs system is provided for in Part 10 of the Act and that this cannot be done arbitrarily and must be managed carefully - including in terms of having the relevant personnel and expertise in place and given the fundamental legal procedures involved.

As I have previously conveyed, the five Chapters of Part 10 of the 2015 Act are very much interlinked and their successful commencement will be key to the phased roll-out of the Legal Services Regulation Act which is already underway. As with other Parts of the Act which will be commenced on a phased basis over the coming period, I am, along with officials at my Department and the Courts Service, giving detailed consideration to the commencement of Part 10. This includes the possible prioritisation for commencement of sections 149 to 161 contained in Chapter 3 as may be practicable from both a structural reform and a legal perspective.

On 19 July 2016 I commenced those provisions of Parts 1 and 2 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 necessary to support the appointment and start-up of the new Legal Services Regulatory Authority – S.I. No. 383 of 2016 refers. On 29 September, as provided under section 7 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, I appointed, by order, 1 October 2016,as establishment day of the new Legal Services Regulatory Authority – S.I. No. 507 of 2016 refers. The resolutions of both Houses approving those nominated by the prescribed nominating bodies for membership of the new Regulatory Authority were completed on 6th October in accordance with the relevant procedures and criteria in Part 2 of the 2015 Act. Dr. Don Thornhill has been appointed Chairperson of the new Authority which will hold its inaugural meeting later this month. Following on from these initial steps, it is intended that the phased commencement of the remaining Parts of the 2015 Act will be implemented over the remainder of this year and into early 2017 in relation to major undertakings such as the start-up of the Authority’s critical public complaints function and the completion of all aspects of the transition to the new Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators.