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

Deputy Jack Chambers and I will support amendments Nos. 157 and 160, partly because there is a similar provision in our own legislation which has passed Second Stage. I note the Minister says he is opposed to it because he thinks that it is constitutionally frail and could impinge on the prerogative of the Government to nominate individuals for appointment. That point is valid in regard to amendments Nos. 150 and 151, tabled by Deputies Clare Daly and Wallace, which we voted down. I am not sure that their suggestions were unconstitutional but I had concerns if the Government was told that it must select, and could only select, a person from the three names given to the Government by the commission. That is on the borderline of constitutionality. However, what is proposed in amendments Nos. 157 and 160 is different. What is proposed there is that the commission gives the three names to the Government. Under the Minister's proposal in the legislation, as drafted, all that is required is that if the Government does not select one of those three names, it must publish that fact in Iris Oifigiúl. That is exactly the same as the current position, so there is no substantive change in the law. It is appropriate that if the Government makes a decision that it is not going to appoint one of the three people nominated, that it should provide a reasoned explanation as to why it is not doing so. It does not involve referring to the individuals who have not been appointed. If, say, Jack Chambers was appointed but he was not one of the three on the list, the Minister or the Government should say that Mr. Justice Chambers was appointed, although he was not nominated by the commission, and it should explain the reason it selected him. Maybe he has particular expertise in medical legal law and the Government needed an expert in that area to hear many cases or perhaps he has an expertise in the Irish language and there was a vacancy in the area and we needed more expertise in the Irish language. It is not something that is difficult to do. If we do not have that, we will have gone through all this process of putting in a new structure when, ultimately, there will be no change from the current situation. For those reasons, we will support the amendments.