Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

120. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality further to parliamentary question number 108 of 1 December 2016, her views on the fact that the assurances she received from the body concerned do not tally with allegations contained in a letter from a person (details supplied) dated 5 November 2016 and forwarded to her by An Taoiseach; the steps she is taking to investigate these conflicting accounts of events. [39901/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The allegations to which the Deputy refers relate to the respective conduct of business by the body concerned under its general constitution, disciplinary code and code of conduct and in relation to the body's making available of certain statutory forms and like matters. As I have previously conveyed to the Deputy in my Written Reply of 1 December 2016 to which she has referred, it remains for the governing body of the entity concerned, being as it is a private body, to competently conduct the indoor management and to oversee the conduct of its own business in accordance with its own rules and procedures and, as I have also already conveyed to the Deputy, the body concerned has confirmed to my Department on 14 October 2016 that it is satisfied that it has followed its internal procedures. As well as recognising the internal jurisdiction of the private body concerned over the running of its own affairs, including under its own rules of association, I also have to be cognisant of the reputational implications of allegations being made where, as in this case, named individuals may be concerned. Moreover, these are matters which could, in their resolution, give rise to possible litigation or judicial review.

It is for the person making the allegations concerned to take them up in an appropriate manner with the body concerned. It is also my understanding that the allegations in the letter cited by the Deputy refer, among other matters, to the modalities of appointment of a professional conduct tribunal the specific proceedings of which are subject to ongoing court proceedings to which both the person making these allegations and the private body concerned are parties and I will not, therefore, be commenting further on this matter.

The Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 provides that one member of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority shall be nominated by the Bar Council. Such a nomination was duly received from the Director of the Bar Council on behalf of the Council and the procedures having been followed in accordance with section 9 of the 2015 Act, the person concerned was appointed to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority on 27 September 2016.