The Gazette 1955-58

who is compulsorily dispossessed of his lands will only receive a sum which is not even sufficient to cover the expenses of his valuer, let alone his solicitor and counsel. We had a preliminary meeting with the Land Commission and now intend to submit a new and reliastic scale. Another ground for public dissatisfaction with Land Commission Acquisition procedure arise from the payment of the purchase money costs and expenses in Land Bonds which stand at a discount on the Stock Exchange. Thus 4f% Land Bonds first issued in 1953 now stand at about 81. The Land Commission bring the Bonds to credit on taking possession of the holding but the owner cannot receive them until after the examina tion of Title has been completed. There is usually an interval of 12 to 18 months during which the owner is powerless to help himself and the result is that an owner whose land has been compulsorily acquired finds himself facing a loss of almost 20 per cent, in his purchase money from the price as fixed by the Appeal Tribunal. Surely elementary equity demands that such an owner should receive the purchase price of his land in marketable Bonds worth their par value at the date of allocation. Legislation in the Oireachtas. As the result of representations made by the Society which resulted in the moving of an amend ment in the Seanad certain obnoxious provisions in the Gaming and Lotteries Bill which migat have enabled the Gardai to enter solicitors' offices and require information concerning clients' business were removed. The Council also received a copy of the Statute of Limitations Bill which proposes to consolidate the Statutory provisions of this complicated subject. The Bill was considered by the Legislation Com mittee who requested the views of the Society's examiners and lecturers. These gentlemen kindly examined the Bill and submitted their observations which were referred to the Department of Justice. I wish here to acknowledge particularly the valuable sendees of Mr. Tarlo the Society's lecturer on Real Property and Equity who prepared a very detailed and comprehensive report on the whole Bill which we transmitted to the Department. Many of you will have seen extracts from Mr. Tarlo's report which were printed in the Irish Law Times and Solicitors Journal. The complexity of modern legislation makes it extremely difficult for bodies such as ours to keep track of it and to deal with the many points upon which the interests of the profession and our clients will be affected but we endeavour to do this by reading the bills which appear to be of

interest to us and making immediate representations to the appropriate Government Department where necessary. Sometimes an apparently innocuous statute will contain a sub-clause of a paragraph of a sub-section which may be of vital interest to us. As an example I refer to the provisions in the Gaming and Lottery Bill which I have already mentioned. So far as we can we try to watch these matters. Solicitors in the Local Government Service. We are still pressing our claim with the Minister for Local Government that the solicitors in the Local Government service who are paid by full time salaries should have parity with the County Medical Officers and County Engineers. We believe that the County Managers' Committee approved of the claim and we are now endeavouring to get it through the Department. Justice in this matter is long overdue as the initial claim was made in 1948. The solicitors concerned are few in number but we feel that their claim is of importance both for the standing and position of the profession as well as in their purely personal interests. Delays in Government Departments. I come now to the question of delay in Govern ment Offices. This is a current and continuing complaint; and quite a lot of our time at Council Meetings is taken up with consideration of such matters. At the last General Meeting, a special resolution was adopted unanimously, complaining that there was great and unnecessary delay in public offices and departments and requesting the Council to take steps to rectify matters. The Council were of opinion that their best course was to tackle the evil at its principal source, namely the Valuation Office. I refer to the Valuation Office as the principal source of delay, not in any critical spirit but because delay in that office has repercussions principally in the Estate Duty and the Stamp Office. We approached the Commissioner of Valuation who received a deputation; and I must express our appreciation of the courteous, sympathetic and helpful attitude of the Commissioner and his principal officers. The Commissioner frankly admitted that the present state of arrears was unsatisfactory but he explained that they had been working with a depleted staff, who had been burdened by the large increase in cases concerning Revision of Rateable Valuations. However, he explained, that a re-organisation plan had been put into effect and that as and from June 1956 he would regard a complaint of delay as legitimate where the delay : (a) in city cases exceeded six weeks. (b) in country cases exceeded six months. 5