Professor Niamh Hardiman:

The questions I have been raising all along relate to where we accord deference and the circumstances in which it is inappropriate to do so. Questioning the bases of authority is always useful. If authority is based on knowledge and competences, then people would be willing to accept it. If, however, it is simply an assertion of right or entitlement or of entitlement due to position, then it is a problem because we are not really able to discover that which we need to know. In such circumstances, there is a risk of information which should come into the public domain not doing so. I would certainly see that as a problem.