Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 24 Feb 1960

Vol. 179 No. 5

Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, 1958—Motion for Withdrawal.

Minister for Justice (Mr. Traynor)

I move:—

"That the Order for the Committee Stage of the Solicitors (Amendment) Bill 1958, be discharged and that the Bill be withdrawn.

Actually, I have the draft of the new Bill here with me but there is one matter still under discussion with the Incorporated Law Society and until that particular matter is settled we cannot bring the Bill before the Government. I hope that when this matter is disposed of and Government approval obtained the Bill will be ready for circulation, but I do not know when it will be possible to take it in the House in view of the amount of legislation that the Department of Justice is dealing with at the moment. As the Deputy knows, we are taking the Intoxicating Liquor Bill at present. We anticipate time. This, may take a considerable time. This, together with the Financial Business which will be intervening, makes it impossible for me to say when the Solicitors Bill will actually be ready for discussion in the House unless perhaps we could interrupt other business for a short time, say the Intoxicating Liquor Bill or something like that. I am afraid I cannot see the new Solicitors Bill coming in during this session.

Mr. Dillon

We are prepared to agree to the procedure proposed by the Minister for Justice in the light of circumstances obtaining. There is on us an obligation emphatically to direct the attention of the Minister, the Taoiseach and the Government to the situation which has been created as a result of the difficulties of proceeding with the number of Bills at present on the Order Paper and to point out that the existing situation is one in which it is virtually impossible for the profession to maintain the discipline they conceive it to be their duty, and rightly, in our judgment, conceive it to be their duty, to enforce.

There is another aspect of the matter which I trust is not absent from the Minister's mind, that is, that in relief of clients, the solicitors' profession has given a qualified joint undertaking to indemnify clients who may sustain loss as a result of a default of a solicitor. The present position is that, while that obligation still rests upon the profession, albeit in a qualified form, they have not got the powers to maintain the standards of practice which would give the profession reasonable security against large claims developing against them consequent on an individual's default. Therefore, the existing situation is one which this Legislature cannot with propriety allow to remain outstanding indefinitely.

We fully appreciate the difficulties with which the Minister for Justice is contending in this matter, which is highly technical. It is extremely desirable that, on this second or third attempt effectively to legislate in this matter, there should be no miscarriage. At the same time, the Minister and the Government ought seriously to consider giving a high priority to what I hope will be an agreed solution of this solicitors' problem, even at the cost of postponing other legislation which might not be so urgent of enactment as this legislation most undoubtedly is from the point of view of both the profession itself and of litigants.

Mr. Traynor

I am fully aware of the problems which the Deputy has mentioned. I am also conscious of the desirability of proceeding with the Bill at the earliest possible moment, but the question the Deputy has just mentioned is the question which is at present being negotiated between the Department and the Incorporated Law Society. I think that when that is settled, we shall be in a position to produce the Bill to the Government and when the Government have approved of it, we shall be in a position to come to a decision, as the Deputy has suggested, on the question of giving it priority over other business. It may be that we shall have to give priority if the matter is as pressing as the Deputy suggests it is. I myself think it is rather important at the moment from the point of view that there may be people at present who are entitled to compensation and who cannot get it because the Bill is held up.

Question put and agreed to.