Consumer chief airs fears over solicitor scandals
Friday October 26 2007
THE National Consumer Agency (NCA) Chief Executive Ann Fitzgerald held discussions with the Law Society yesterday to voice her concerns about the recent spate of solicitor scandals.
NCA Chief Executive Ann Fitzgerald said her primary concern was for consumers who might be at a loss as a result of the recent scams and she wanted to clarify the measures in place to compensate them.
Law Society Director General Ken Murphy had advised her that in cases of negligence by solicitors there was professional indemnity insurance in place, and in cases of dishonesty clients could seek up to €700,000 through their guaranteed compensation fund.
Stressed
Ms Fitzgerald said it was vital that details of these measures were made easily accessible to consumers who might be extremely stressed by problems related to their homes and mortgages, as currently the information was not readily available on the Law Society website.
The latest scandals had hammered home the message that self-regulation of solicitors did not work, and that independent regulation was needed to protect clients, Ms Fitzgerald said.
Ms Fitzgerald said she was also worried that if someone was unfortunate enough to be paying a mortgage while someone else owned the deeds to their property, was the bank going to lay claim to that asset.
Consumers Association of Ireland Chief Executive Dermott Jewell said he would be writing to the Department of Justice to reiterate the urgent need for external arms-length regulation of solicitors as self-regulation had now been conclusively shown to fail, and he would also contact the Department of Finance to call for tighter legislation governing banks.
The Irish Banking Federation said that the recent cases had understandably given rise to questions about the basis of solicitors' undertakings and the process of registration of title deeds, and it would be appropriate for procedures to be examined.
- Aideen Sheehan Consumer Affairs Correspondent
