Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 October 2012
490. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will confirm the requirements to reform competition and practice in the legal sector set out in the Memorandum of Understanding with the programme Troika, and the dates on which such requirements are to be complied with. [45981/12]
View answerThe Programme of the Government for National Recovery 2011-2016 undertakes to “establish independent regulation of the legal profession to improve access and competition, make legal costs more transparent and ensure adequate procedures for addressing consumer complaints”. These undertakings complement those structural reforms in the EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland aimed at removing restrictions to trade and competition relating to the legal professions and legal costs, namely, to establish an independent regulator for the legal professions and implement the recommendations of the Legal Costs Working Group, and to implement the outstanding Competition Authority recommendations to reduce legal costs.
Effect is being given to these structural reform commitments in the form of the Legal Services Bill 2011 which was published, in keeping with the relevant time-line under the Troika Programme, for the end of Quarter 3 of 2011. As the Deputy will be aware, the Bill, which remains a priority under the Government Legislation Programme, completed Second Stage in the Dáil in February and is awaiting Committee Stage.
I have made comprehensive statements on the Bill and its continuing development both at the Annual Conference of the Law Society on the 14th of April and at the conference hosted by my Department on Regulatory Reform for a 21st Century Legal Profession which took place on 6th July. The full text of these statements is available on the Department website, www.justice.ie, for ease of reference. I continue to receive submissions in relation to the Bill from various stakeholders and these are being considered as part of the ongoing deliberative process in preparation for Committee Stage.
In light of this continuing work, I am confident that the Bill, when enacted, will better balance the interests of consumers of legal services and those of legal practitioners who provide them while modernising the legal costs regime in a way conducive to greater scrutiny and competitiveness. Substantial, positive progress has been made towards achieving the desired and important balance between the independence of the legal professions and the Government’s stated policy objective of independent regulation. I have made known the intended scope of the amendments to the Bill that will place the new regulatory and disciplinary architecture for the two legal professions beyond any undue interference by Minister or Government. This effectively lays to rest those concerns about impinging on the independence of the legal professions that had been initially voiced in relation to the Bill and its motivation.
As the Bill approaches Committee Stage it has reached a point where it is set to provide for an independent Legal Services Regulatory Authority, an independent complaints framework and an independent Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Tribunal. These are being buttressed by the functions and powers of a modernised Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator, with the support of transparent Legal Costs Principles and procedures. The Bill will also open the legal services sector to the future and its new business models and technologies in a way that will benefit the legal professions as much as it will enhance the position of their clients.
Work on the details of the proposed amendments to the Bill is, therefore, ongoing at my Department including in conjunction with the Offices of the Attorney General and of Parliamentary Counsel and the EU/IMF/ECB Troika. As I have previously stated, the relevant amendments will be made available in advance of Committee Stage along with the relevant Regulatory Impact Analysis. It remains my objective, notwithstanding the competing legislative demands of our EU/IMF/ECB Programme commitments - notably the Personal Insolvency Bill which continues to occupy Members of both Houses - that Committee Stage of the Legal Services Regulation Bill should commence as soon as possible, preferably before the end of this year.
