Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is what I am saying. The body will report to the Oireachtas joint committee, not the Minister in the manner as it was originally framed in the Bill. I come back to the point that there are all sorts of interesting and exciting motives attached to the way we approached this originally. The way we approached it was based on the precedent of similar bodies. The Deputy knows that there was concern that I, or some future Minister with responsibility for justice, might in a fit of insanity want to control the entirety of the legal profession. This is designed to ensure the message goes out, based on the principles already enunciated and specified in the Bill from day one, that the independence of the legal professions are important. The body must be independent and must be accountable to somebody. It cannot be free-floating and not accountable to anyone. It is accountable to the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality in the context of reporting to it on issues of concern. The committee can engage with the authority but not in any shape or form to impact on the independence of the legal professions, nor on the important principles prescribed in the Bill, which underwrite the approach to be taken by the regulatory authorities.