Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being a little late. I have had a chance to read all the presentations and I have to say they are excellent. There is a diversity of advice, but all very helpful, and it will be very helpful to the Government's review process.

The issue of appointments is one of perception. Whether justified or not, there has been a perception that some judges have been politically appointed, and that has undermined the work they have been involved in. I put forward a Private Members' Bill which essentially recommended a shortlist of three and looked at the issue of diversity. I do not have a massive objection to the fact it was not voted for because there is a review process under way at the moment.

I have two questions. The first is connected to the issue of a sentencing council. We talk about diversity and, I assume, when we do so, we want to have a diversity of experiences and perhaps of ideological perspectives. I would have thought that was the case for the Supreme Court in particular, as it has the responsibility of interpreting the Constitution, but Dr. Carroll MacNeill made the important point that, at District Court level, perspectives matter too in terms of how they engage. What are the thoughts of the witnesses on the sentencing council model in place in England and Wales, where they engage with the public around the appropriate sentences for a particular category of crime or offence? I believe that is as important as the diversity issue because it gives a clear link to the public around what should be the range of sentencing.