The Gazette 1946-49

Council stated that the provisions of the Bill referred to had been inserted in the Bill at the instance of the Labour Party and that while he himself was not prepared to move an amendment in the Dail deleting them, he would not oppose such an amend– ment if the Council could obtain the agreement of all parties. Mr. P. F. O'Reilly and the Secretary attended at the Dail and interviewed members of the Labour Party in an. endeavour to bring home to them the inequitable and impolitic nature of the provisions of the Bill referred to above. It was suggested to the Labour members that the Bill should not exclude the right of audience of solicitors or Counsel and that in lieu of a Chairman without legal qualifi– cations it would be advisable to provide that the Chairman should be a Judge of the High Court; and that a tribunal under such chairmanship would be far more likely to command the respect and confidence of the general public than a purely lay tribunal, probably under the chairmanship of a civil servant which could not be described in any sense as independent. The Council regret to have to report that the representations made to the Labour Party were ineffective. Amendments on the lines of those suggested by the Council were moved in the Dail on the Committee Stage of the Bill but they were opposed by the Labour Party and the Minister refused to accept them. The Council are convinced, that from the point of view of the general public, the provisions of this Bill in excluding the right of legal representation are unwise and that they will not lead to an economy in time in the presenta– tion of the cases of parties appearing before the Court or any substantial saving of expense. They may well have the contrary effect in so far as the Court may to a large extent attempt to adjudicate on legal issues without any expert legal assistance.

2. The

solicitor nominated

to maintain

a

business office in Tullamore. 3. The position to be non-pensionable. The Council objected to the advertisement and it was withdrawn. The following paragraph recently appeared in a local newspaper : " With reference to the position of solicitor to Offaly County Council and Tullamore Urban District Council, Mr. M. A. Veale, County Manager for Offaly, has made the following order : ' Minister to be requested to sanction creation of part-time, permanent, non-pension– able post of solicitor to the Offaly County Council and Tullamore Urban District Council with exclusive salary of £675 a year, of which £75 shall be payable by the Tullamore Urban District Council, which salary is to cover the provision of staff and office accommodation in the town of Tullamore and all necessary office expenditure as well as travelling sub– sistence expenses in cases in the Courts situate in the County of Offaly but excluding out of pocket expenses and fees ofCounsel engaged with the prior approval of the Local Authority concerned; the salary shall also cover all duties of the post including parliamentary business, attendance at meetings of the County Council or of the District Council or any Committees thereof, and also all work arising out of enquiries and arbitrations.' " The position as to the appointment of solicitor to Local Authorities appears to be as follows : The County Manager exercises the executive func– tions of the Local Authority, including the appoint– ment of officers and servants and professional advisers. The County Manager may either (a) avail of the procedure in the Local Authorities' (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926, or (K) appoint the solicitor himself. If he adopts course (a) the appointment is made from among candidates selected by the Local Appointments Commissioners and the appointment is invariably made on the basis of a fixed salary. The solicitor appointed then becomes an officer of the Local Authority, but apparently not a pensionable officer unless his appointment is whole-time (see Local Government Act, 1925), Section 42. The County Manager may also adopt course (U) as he has the power always vested in Local Authorities to employ a solicitor to do work on the ordinary solicitor and client basis and to pay him his taxed costs (Local Government Act, 1898, Section 17 and Borough Funds (Ireland) Act, 1888, Section 3). The solicitor is employed ad hoc on each occasion. In the view of the Local Government Department he is not an officer of the Local Authority and has no right to be employed

TERMS OF APPOINTMENT OF SOLICITORS TO LOCAL AUTHORITIES.

Solicitor

to Offaly County Council and

Tullamore Urban District Council ABOUT twelve months ago the County Manager for County Offaly published an advertisement inviting applications for the position of solicitor to the County Council on the following terms : i. Costs should be taxed annually and in the

event of the taxed costs (excluding outlay and travelling expenses) exceeding £500, the solicitor should accept £500 in full discharge of his professional charges.