The Residential Institution Redress Board is being urged to help legal regulators identify solicitors who inappropriately charged clients for work on abuse cases.
The Law Society, which announced an inquiry into solicitors' charging practices last week, wants the redress board to notify all applicants to the board of the procedures for registering a complaint about solicitors' charges.
A spokeswoman for the Minister for Justice said yesterday that Michael McDowell was committed to establishing a legal ombudsman, provision for which would be made in a Bill to come before the Dáil early next year. The legislation would also change the composition of the Law Society's complaints committee, giving non-legal representatives a majority on the statutory body.
Mr McDowell is planning further regulatory reforms, aimed primarily at reducing legal costs.
Law Society director general Ken Murphy said yesterday that solicitors found guilty by the complaints committee would be required to repay improperly charged fees with interest. He said he would be seeking the assistance today of the redress board with a view to having a letter from the Law Society sent by the board to every applicant, thus ensuring "100 per cent targeting of every client".
By close of business last Friday, the society had received 29 fee-related complaints from abuse victims. Mr Murphy said it anticipated there was "more to come". The society, which both represents and regulates solicitors in the Republic, has established a helpline for redress board clients and has encouraged complainants to come forward.
Its response to the controversy, prompted by more than 40 complaints about the issue to RTÉ's Liveline programme last week, has generated mixed feelings within the legal profession.
A number of legal practitioners who spoke to The Irish Times over the weekend criticised the society for failing to defend more robustly its members from attack.
Mr Murphy said complaints from victims about fees would be fast-tracked by the relevant committee with a view to determination, "ideally within two weeks".
The committee, which is scheduled to meet on Thursday, is to order all solicitors against whom complaints have been made to appear before it to account for their actions. Letters demanding details of charges are to be faxed to the first group of solicitors today. Mr Murphy said the society also planned to meet as many representative groups as possible in the coming days.
The Alliance Victim Support Group, which is due to meet the solicitors' body today, said it had been aware of the charging practices since last June.
The redress board has to date refrained from commenting on the controversy. According to its latest annual report, it paid €9 million to solicitor firms in legal costs last year, or on average €11,000 per application.
