I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 22 together.
I am examining these matters in connection with commitments in the Programme for National Recovery.
As regards the publication of a book of quantum of damages, I have arranged to have this matter discussed by the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for Ireland, on which I am officially represented, to ascertain how such a project could be undertaken. While I am, of course, prepared to give what assistance I can, it is likely that this matter will be found to be more appropriate to be done by publishers of existing legal journals and textbooks.
A provision to facilitate the introduction of a system of pre-trial procedures in the High Court is among proposals that I am considering in connection with a proposed Court and Court Officers Bill. Preparation of the Bill is at an advanced stage. I hope to be in a position to bring any proposals before the House soon.
As regards the level of legal representation in the superior courts, the position is that the Government have decided that an amendment should be proposed to the Courts Bill, 1986, which is awaiting Committee Stage in the Dáil, to empower me to make regulations to limit the number of counsel whose costs may be recovered by a successful litigant in a personal injury or fatal accident damages case. The Deputy will be aware that the Bar Council decided recently to abandon the practice of requiring that three counsel should be briefed in these types of cases in the High Court. However, I should mention that the general question of the number of legal representatives required in a case is the subject of a current study of the legal profession by the Restrictive Practices Commission.