The Gazette 1955-58

fees follow in the wake of increased charges in the Land Registry, increased stamp duties and estate duties, all of which are paid to the State through the services of the profession. There is another side to the problem. Solicitors cannot be expected to finance their clients in the payment of outlay, as heretofore, and the time is now coming when solicitors will have to change their established practice and ask their clients to provide the outlay as the occasion arises. I have just now spoken of the work, which we performed for the Department of Finance as unpaid tax collectors. May I express the hope that the Minister will recognise the very special position of the solicitors' profession, and in his next Budget make the concession which we have been seeking in conjunction with the accountants who perform similar services for the revenue in the matter of retirement benefits. After a struggle of 8 years, the Law Society in England have been successful in inducing the Chancellor of the Exchequer to allow the remission in contributions for retirement benefits by self-employed persons, and the provisions have been incorporated in the English Finance Act of 1956. A Joint Committee of the Society and Accoun tants have been working on this problem during the past year; and we are sure that the Minister for Finance will give the fullest consideration to the proposal, which we are putting to him, to allow relief from Income Tax in respect of premiums paid by solicitors and accountants to make provision for their retirement and old age. May I express the hope that in his next Budget the Minister will be able to make provision for this long overdue relief. As always at the Annual Meetings a President has to refer to the perennial problem of delays in government offices. During the past 12 months we have made a new approach to this problem. In the first instance at a conference with the Com missioner of Valuation, we have asked him to indicate the time within which they would expect cases coming to their office to be dealt with and would regard complaints in excess of such time as legitimate. The Commissioner in the frankest possible way told us of his difficulties and in the end we have agreed upon a time-table within which cases referred to the Valuation Office may reasonably be dealt with. This time-table so far as the cities are concerned, viz., six weeks, is reasonable, but the delay in country districts viz., six months, is rather more than we would like. However, it does represent a very considerable improvement, and we are grateful to the Commissioner of Valuation for his assistance and co-operation in the matter. In like manner we approached the Irish Land Commission and were met in the most helpful and

As I am referring to the question of organisation, may I also add a word upon the subject of co-opera tion between the professions. In this year we have co-operated with the accountants in preparing the case for retirement benefits, to which I will allude later. In the present time, more than ever before, there is the need for all professional bodies to work together in harmony and in co-operation. So far as the Law Society is concerned, we are ready and willing at all times to co-operate with all other professional bodies, to join with them and support them on matters of common and mutual interest. The principal event during the past six months, as far as we have been concerned, has been the increased Court fees, which were brought into operation with startling suddenness one Monday last October. It is no exaggeration to say that the solicitors of Ireland were severely shocked; and for the first time in history the Council felt com pelled to make a public protest by way of a letter to the newspapers, not only against the amount of the new fees, but also of the manner in which they were imposed. It is now more than ever clear that the purpose of the increase was to provide additional revenue. We as solicitors and as loyal citizens are quite prepared and willing to accept taxation if imposed as taxation. We would not have objected to reasonable increases, but we feel we must object, and we must let the public know when taxation is imposed on them in a concealed form and without regard to the problems and difficulties which arise from a hasty application. For instance, until new Rules were made by the High Court and District Court Rules Committee, plaintiffs were unable to recover the new increases and had to bear the loss themselves., Again the new scale operates with particular hardship in cases where accounts are taken in the Examiner's Office. The previous scale of fees provided for a maximum of £10. The new scale does not contain the former provision for a maximum fee and in some cases the fees payable might be quite fantastic. Un doubtedly, in this instance there is a mistake, but it is typical of the difficulties which arise from lack of consultation and undue haste. We deplore too the increase in the fees in Bankruptcy and in minor matters. There is the danger that the effect of such increases may be to leave it uneconomic to utilise the services of the Courts and that the result may be to cause a denial of justice. A Com mittee of the Society has been detailed to study the incidence of the increases, and we hope, to make representations in due course to remedy the more serious anomalies. Meanwhile solicitors are called upon to act as the great unpaid tax collectors, and additional court