Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am in two minds on this. I have to admit that I have been in the High Court on numerous occasions for my various sins over the years, although not in a personal way. If a professional issue has been raised against a practitioner, it is a serious matter. We need to be very careful about what we do. I am not sure whether the High Court should be the court of first instance. It may be possible to have the matter dealt with in a lower court such as the Circuit Court with the option of referring it to the High Court for both sides. It can be intimidating but based on my experience, I have found the judges at High Court level to be very cautious in the way they deliver judgments and very careful about ensuring that the rights of the individual are observed at all times - perhaps to a greater extent than one would find in some of the lower courts. I have been in all of them as well.