David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On my behalf and on behalf of the members of the committee, I thank the witnesses for attending the meeting today. I am certainly enthused, encouraged and energised by the engagement we had. I thank you for taking up the role and wish you well into the future. As colleagues have said, it will be extremely challenging but it is also extraordinarily important. I took a note of the word "engagement". The idea of having a road show or engaging with citizens is very important to ensure the ordinary citizen is aware, first, that such a body exists and also, more importantly, its role and what it does. That is a huge challenge and I wish you well with it.

The committee was very pleased to be involved in engaging with the selection panel. There is a change in politics in Ireland. It is happening subtly. This committee and others are engaging more and distancing ourselves from the Executive. We are acting as a parliamentary body. We are not afraid to challenge the Executive from time to time. We see that as our role as a parliamentary committee. You have that role as well, in another way, and that is very healthy and positive. There is much debate in the Constitutional Convention at present about changing the electoral system and so forth, which is also positive.

We were happy to engage with the selection panel and to give it a fair wind, as it were. I am aware from discussions with colleagues in the committee that there is concern about the appointment of the chief commissioner. We would concur that a similar process should apply and we would like the chief commissioner to be appointed as soon as possible. A great deal of work has been done at departmental level to get us to this point today. On behalf of the members I congratulate and thank the officials and the Minister, who have put so much work into getting us to the current position. There is still a long way to go.

It is crucial that the commission be independent and be seen to be independent. Also, I ask you to reflect on what equality means. We tend to throw words, phrases and concepts around without really getting down to the brass tacks of what equality means for people. Obviously, human rights are involved as well, but the word "equality" is used a great deal and I do not know if we really know what it means at the end of the day. Do we really think about it and have a working concept of what it means for people in their daily lives?

On that note, I thank you for attending the meeting today. That concludes our engagement with you. Is it agreed that the committee will inform the Minister that it has concluded its engagement with the members designate and that it will forward a transcript of the meeting to the Minister for his information? Agreed. Finally, on behalf of the committee, I would welcome the further engagement you outlined. There is a new system now for the heads of a Bill. It is very exciting, although it means a great deal more work for us. The heads of a Bill come to the committee and we have a very interesting format whereby we invite submissions. In some cases, we have received hundreds of submissions. We have a big input into the legislation before it is published, which is extremely useful and welcome. We would welcome engagement with the members designate on an ongoing basis. Do not wait for an invitation to get in contact. Please submit material to us as you see fit.

Thank you again for assisting us with our deliberations today and I wish you every success in your role.