Eric Byrne (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. I did not have the opportunity to read all of the documentation supplied so I hope they will bear with me. If I had read the documentation, I might not be obliged to ask any questions in order to try to understand what is involved.

Romania and Hungary - certainly the latter - have been highlighted as two of the deviant European states which have at some stage been seen to interfere with the rights of their superior courts and in other areas. I fully accept that Europe must be seen to apply the same rules and laws equally. In other words, people in Ireland must be in a position to obtain the same level of justice as their counterparts in Greece.

Mr. Ó Briain stated that no nation is perfect. His assertion is particularly apt when one considers the incredible ignorance of the Irish State in understanding that Roma children can be born with blue eyes and fair hair. He also referred to the policy to try to combat homophobia and racism. Members of the committee have just returned from Albania and Montenegro. We were almost embarrassingly pointing the finger at the applicant states, stressing the rule of law and saying that they will not gain entry unless they meet the terms of admittance to the club. The authorities in both countries are conscious of this and they continue to work extremely hard in respect of what they have do to. It must be remembered that they are doing so pre-membership. The question must be posed as to what has happened in Hungary and Romania, which became member states and which were supposedly in compliance with the rules that apply.

Does the EU have a position on how nation states appoint judges? There are people in this country who would say that all judges are political hacks and that one cannot become a judge unless one is the member of the right political party or has provided financial support to that party, worked for it or whatever. If this is indeed the case, is it a fundamental flaw? In the context of the rule of law and the arrest and questioning of Mr. Sarkozy, the latter's defence is that those involved are nothing but a shower of left wing magistrates who are politically committed to keeping him out of politics. In the context of the assertion that Ireland chooses political hacks to be judges and Mr. Sarkozy's assertion that those questioning him are left wing lunatics, Trotskyists and communists who are determined to undermine him, is there a need to examine more closely allegations about our internal use of the rule of law?