The Gazette 1975

16.6 Because of the complexity of the field in relation to Solicitor's costs, the anomalies which are to be found therein and the difficulty of settling on any one basis for arriving at the amount of Solicitor's charges the work of the Committee has been of necessity slow. For example if it be accepted that it is difficult to justify scale fees as such (without reference to the level of them) it is impossible to advocate another system of charging to replace them without investigating fully the extent to which scale fees may subsidize other and less remunerative areas of work and without finding both a method of making any cross-subsidization un- necessary and in addition a method or basis to replace the scale fees themselves. At this stage it seems unlikely that the Committee will be able to suggest any major changes in the existing principles of charging costs. 16.7 The Committee have met regularly since it was constituted and not unnaturally the meetings have become both more frequent and of longer duration latterly. It is presently engaged in producing a draft Report for submission to the Council on which the Council may base a case to Professor Lees and the National Prices Commission. It is hoped to have it ready for the Council in November.

LAW CLERKS JOINT LABOUR COMMITTEE

LAW SOCIETY D C P D E C C M T A T I V PC Kt rKt o t iN 1A11VM

1 7 1 During the year two meetings of the Law Clerks Joint Labour Committee were held in

t h e o f f i c es o f t h e L a b o u r C o u r t M e s p i l R o a ( J) D u b l i n

On 6th June, 1975, a Motion was proposed by P. J. O'Brien of the Workers' representatives: "that the terms of the 1975 National Wage Agreement be implemented". After hearing arguments from both parties the Chairman asked for a vote on the motion. The motion was carried on the casting vote of the independent member. Objections were lodged and heard on 7th October: 1. It is the stated intention of the proposals to apply to the workers affected "increases provided for in the National Agreement 1975." 2. The proposals also state that "Further increases will operate in accordance with the provisions of the agreement". 3. The Committee has no official cognisance of the document described as "The National Agreement 1975" and has no authority to fix wage rates by reference to such a document. 4. In so far as the document referred to may be recognised as published proposals for Employer-Trade Union National Agreement 1975, the said document was at the date on which the Committee sat and still is under review by the parties thereto in the context of the statement of the Minister for Finance made in Dail Eireann, 25th June, 1975. 5. By purporting to apply to the workers affected wage rates which have been negotiated the Committee has failed to recognise and implement the distinction between such negotiated rates and statutory minimum wage rates enforced under statutory penalties. 6. The wage rates to which increases are proposed to be added are excessive since they were by definition based upon the incorrect assumption that the Committee was legally bound to implement a document known as the Employer-Trade Union National Agreement 1974. (Hereinafter referred to as the 1974 National Agreement.) 7. In particular the wage rates which the current proposals purport to increase are wage rates published by the Labour Court L.C. (N. 36) to come into force 17th March, 1975 solely by reference to the 1974 National Agreement and on the assumption that the Committee was bound to implement the terms of the 1974 National Agreement and without the Committee having met to consider the factors intended to be taken into account in deciding whether and to what extent certain provisions of the said agree- ment might properly be applied to the workers affected. 8. The Committee did not decide nor agree on any of the Wage rates specified in the proposals published independently of the published proposals for Employer-Trade Union National Agreement 1975. . 2 5 0

Bruce St. J. Blake Francis X. Burke Laurence Cullen Gerard M. Doyle Joseph L. Dundon P. McEntee Enda C. Gearty Gerald J. Moloney Robert McD. Taylor