Amendment No. 48 is related to amendment No. 46 and amendments Nos. 49 to 54, inclusive, are alternatives to amendment No. 48. Amendments Nos. 46, and 48 to 54, inclusive, may be discussed together. However, Deputy Gilmore is not present to move his amendment.
SECTION 16.
Amendment No. 46 not moved.
May I move the other amendments which you said could be discussed with amendment No. 46?
We cannot discuss them until we reach them. Amendments Nos. 47 and 56 are related and may be discussed together.
I move amendment No. 47:
In page 19, line 21, to delete "costs or" and substitute "reasonable costs and".
The subsection as drafted requires the society to defray any costs or expenses incurred by the Disciplinary Tribunal. Amendment No. 47 substitutes a more reasonable obligation to defray any reasonable costs and expenses incurred by the tribunal. Amendment No. 56 requires the society to pay the reasonable travelling and subsistence expenses of the Disciplinary Tribunal, which is more appropriate than a requirement to pay the vouched expenses.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 48:
In page 19, to delete lines 23 to 33, and substitute the following:
"(5) For the purpose of hearing and determining any application under section 7 (as substituted by the Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1994) of this Act, the Disciplinary Tribunal shall sit in divisions, each of which shall comprise three members of whom one shall be a lay member and two shall be solicitor members.".
This amendment merges the provisions of subsections (5) and (6) into one subsection (5). It provides that the Disciplinary Tribunal may sit in divisions which shall comprise at least three members. There can be a maximum of five divisions, but more than three members would be cumbersome. The amendment will ensure that a solicitor could not seek to frustrate the operation of the tribunal by demanding a tribunal of a greater number than three, up to a maximum of 15.
We are taking amendments Nos. 49 to 54, inclusive, with amendment No. 48, and if amendment No. 48 is agreed, the others cannot be moved.
Amendment agreed to.
Amedments Nos. 49 to 54, inclusive, not moved.
I move ammendment No. 55:
In page 19, line 34, to delete "lay".
The amendment removes any doubt that travel and subsistence expenses may be paid only to the lay members of the Disciplinary Tribunal.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 56:
In page 19, line 36, to delete "vouched" and substitute "reasonable".
This replaces the requirement that expenses be vouched with the requirement that they be reasonable. This is a more appropriate way to phrase it.
Amendment agreed to.
Question proposed: "That section 16, as amended, stand part of the Bill"
I asked earlier if I could move my amendments, which you said were related to and could be discussed with amendment No. 46.
I said that amendment No. 48 was related to amendment No. 46 and that amendments Nos. 49 to 54, inclusive, were alternatives to amendment No. 48. Amendment No. 46 was not moved and amendment No. 48 was agreed, therefore the other amendments could not be moved.
Question put and agreed to.