Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will make a point that may be of assistance to members. In practice, the process will be quite straightforward. Deputy O'Callaghan and other Deputies mentioned, for example, the appointment to a vacancy in the District Court under the new framework. This court is perhaps most relevant to the day-to-day lives of individuals. Hundreds of thousands of people appear annually in District Courts up and down the country. If the committee forms the view that the relevant committees under the Bill would have no function and would be non-existent, we would then have a situation in practice where there might be up to 200 applications for consideration for a vacancy in the District Court from all over the country. Without the relevant committee structure, these applications would be put to the entire commission for due consideration. There is real danger that much other work of importance that might be undertaken by the commission would not take place because of a concentration by the commission on dealing with one appointment to the District Court. That is one of the important reasons we have carefully arrived at after significant consideration at the relevant committee structure. It is to ensure efficiency and expertise and it would provide for the membership of the president of the court to which the appointment is to be made. I believe this could be done in a way that would not involve the overall commission unduly in the process.