Taylor, MervynThursday, 6 April 1995 |
Seanad Éireann Debate
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Civil Legal Aid Bill, 1995: Committee Stage.
The effect of the amendment would be to remove the words “from time to time as occasion requires”. As I understand it, the office of the parliamentary draftsman uses those words in Bills of this type...
Section 4 (3) provides that in appointing members of the board, the Minister shall have regard to the desirability of their having knowledge or experience of the law, the practice and procedure of the...
I thank Senators for their constructive contributions. The question of extending the size of the board is not tenable and I agree with the comments made by Senator Daly and Senator Neville. I believ...
The entirety of the board will be representative of the interests of the consumer. The Legal Aid Board and the organisation are not comparable to a business. The board of a business has the interest...
There are a large number of wide ranging voluntary organisations which could, in theory, claim to have rights of appointment to the Legal Aid Board. A number of them have been mentioned in the House...
If the amendments are withdrawn I am prepared to consider the wording of section 4 (3) (a) to see whether the representational aspect can be strengthened. I do not wish to mislead the House by sugges...
This is a technical amendment. Amendment agreed to.
In circumstances where the Minister might deem it appropriate to dismiss a member of the board, natural justice requires that he or she be given reasons for his or her dismissal. For that reason Senat...
It is implicit in that natural justice requires it.
That would be the position, yes.
I put it differently. The position is that natural justice would require that if the person was dismissed they would be given the reasons for their dismissal. If these reasons were not given then th...
Section 4 (5) (a) provides that the Minister may appoint a person to be a member of a board to fill a vacancy occasioned by the death or resignation of a member or where a member becomes disqualified ...
The point I was making was that if the question of the person's disqualification was in issue, if the Minister was contending that the person was disqualified and the person was contending they were n...
I could not agree with that suggestion. I do not think that you should stick with Senator Lee's proposition at all because it is very seriously flawed. Senator O'Toole made an interesting point, but...
To use the expression “shall normally” raises problems of its own because one could get into an argument as to what is normal and what is abnormal. In practice the usual and normal course would obvio...
That matter is within the discretion of the Minister. If the Minister feels it is worthwhile to fill that vacancy, so be it; but that element of discretion has to be there. Amendment, by leave, withd...
Senator Lee's amendment would have the effect of requiring the board to hold at least four meetings per annum. While I can appreciate the intentions behind the amendment, I do not think it is necessa...
Senator Norris is right. There is no certainty that if one says there should be at least four meetings the board members will necessarily set that as a target, but there is always the possibility they...
I thought the Senator was doing a fine job as it was. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Sitting suspended at 1 p.m. and resumed at 2 p.m.
Section 4 (8) provides that the quorum for a meeting of the board shall be at least five, or such other number as the board may decide. Senator Lee's amendment suggests that the quorum for a meeting o...
Section 5 sets out the principal functions of the Legal Aid Board as being to provide, within its resources, legal aid and advice in civil cases to persons who satisfy the requirements of the Bill.
Returning to the point made by Senator Neville, which sums up the nub of what we are about in this Bill, it is true that the resources of the Legal Aid Board have been substantially increased over the...
The Senator wanted four meetings as a minimum; he cannot have it both ways.
I can only repeat what I said earlier. The resources of the board are finite. It is easy to put down an amendment directing the board to carry out additional functions beyond what it is doing effect...
All I can do is repeat what I said before. I am prepared to consider that point on Report Stage if the amendment is withdrawn but I am not in a position to give a commitment at the moment.
With respect, that amendment is drawn in the broadest possible way. Dissemination of information about the law could cover a multitude. The law is a complex, difficult area which students practise an...
These amendments, which would require that such policy directives be published, are unnecessary. This is because the section as it stands requires the Minister to issue his directives by order. Such ...
Senator Lee's proposed amendment would have the effect of compelling the Civil Legal Aid Board to submit its annual report for, say, 1995 before the end of March 1996. I agree that reports should gen...
I will consider it between now and Report Stage to see whether the chief executive of the Civil Legal Aid Board has any comment to make about it. I would have thought that if it is produced within t...
No, I do not think six months is all right. Three months would be great, but at the same time I am reluctant to put such a time constraint on the Civil Legal Aid Board and the work it has to do in th...
The 1992 report was the last one.
That is what I meant by saying that having the report within a year would be a step forward.
I understand the reports are prepared by the headquarters staff of the board. That depends from time to time on availability of staff to do that and also on receiving the necessary information from a...
The board will have great difficulty if it only gets the report two and a half years after the year in question, which is precisely the reason why I am insisting in the Bill that it is produced within...
Section 10 provides for the appointment of the chief executive of the Civil Legal Aid Board by the Minister on the advice of the Civil Service Commissioners. Senator Lee's amendment proposes the addit...
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