Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 November 2016
129. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount of State funding the Irish Law Society received from 2005 to 2015; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35847/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Law Society is the professional body for solicitors and exercises statutory functions under the Solicitors Acts 1954 to 2015 in relation to the education, admission, enrolment, discipline and regulation of the solicitors' profession. In this capacity, the Law Society is not, as such, a directly State-funded organisation and levies fees on its own membership in support of its functions. Indeed, details of its accounts are published in its annual Reports and Consolidated Financial Statements which are publicly available including on the Society's own website, www.lawsociety.ie.
At the same time, and for the sake of completeness, the Deputy will also wish to be aware that the Law Society does receive some indirect public funding support as a participating partner in the Skillnets and Finuas Network programmes which have their own dedicated websites and annual reporting cycles. I understand that these programmes are co-funded through the National Training Fund operated under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills. The Skillnets initiative, established in 1999 (www.skillnets.ie), actively supports and works with business sectors in Ireland to keep them competitive and to create new jobs through training and up-skilling, including work activation and placement in areas of employment potential. The Finuas Network (www.finuas.ie), in operation since 2009, aims to maintain Ireland's top position in the international financial services sector and in its provision of ancillary legal and other services and to support their continued competitiveness and growth.
