Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The question I wish to put to the Minister is the current cost per annum of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. The reason that I put out the figure of €5,000 is that it was my recollection of a report in the Sunday Business Posta number of months ago which reported that the expenses of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board last year was in the region of €5,000. I could be wrong - it was just a report in a newspaper. I ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to inform members of the current cost of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. If the Minister does not have the information to hand, I ask that it be provided to the committee secretariat subsequently.

How many people will be employed in the judicial appointments commission? How many people should be employed? The Minister said he was at a loss to understand the logic of the amendments tabled. The reason I tabled amendments is that I have a vision of what will happen three years from now in the justice committee. The Minister for Justice and Equality will have probably a higher job than his current role as Minister. The judicial appointments commission will be making a presentation to the committee, at which the director and staff will be present. They will have glossy publications. That quango will cost €1 million a year. As we know quangos only get more expensive. Unless we structure it properly on Committee Stage, it will get out of control.

The Minister stated that the current Judicial Appointments Advisory Board performs its function very well. If it does this work for a figure in the region of what I believe it to be, then the proposal to increase that spending up to €1 million per annum is not justified.