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

I do not think there is a huge amount of disagreement here. The Minister recognises that the presidents of the District Court and the Circuit Court should be involved. I think everyone agrees with that. Deputy Chambers and I believe that the committee structure is too complicated for the level of work that the Commission will have to do. If I was going to have any judge on this Commission, I would have the president of the District Court, considering the number of candidates who are appointed to that court.

Part of the reason we are here is that politics is damaging the legislation. The Government wants to have a lay majority on the Commission, and it is entitled to have that view. That is the reason the presidents of the Circuit Court and District Court were originally excluded. The Government was concerned about the size of the Commission. As Deputy Ó Laoghaire said, if we must add the presidents of the District Court and the Circuit Court, as I think we should, and we want a lay majority, then two more laypeople must be added. I think that is inappropriately large, but for some reason this lay majority is said to be politically necessary and of public benefit. I disagree with that. If the Minister believes that then it can still be done, but the presence of the District Court and Circuit Court presidents, who know their courts better than anyone else, should not be sacrificed.