15. Practising barrister and mediation
(1) Subsection (2) applies where, under another enactment or instrument made under another enactment, it is lawful for a practising barrister to issue proceedings on behalf of a client who is not represented by a practising solicitor.
(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), obligations analogous to those imposed under section 14 on a practising solicitor in relation to a client of the solicitor may be prescribed, subject to such modifications as may be specified in the regulations concerned, to be performed by a practising barrister in relation to a client of the barrister.
(3) In prescribing, under subsection (2), obligations referred to in that subsection to be performed by a practising barrister in relation to a client of the barrister, the Minister shall have regard to any report under section 34(1) of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 to the extent that the report relates to the unification of the solicitors' profession and the barristers' profession.
(4) The Minister shall not prescribe, under subsection (2), obligations referred to in that subsection to be performed by a practising barrister in relation to a client of the barrister except after consultation with the Law Society of Ireland and the General Council of the Bar of Ireland.