Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I suspect that will happen because I understand the Minister is progressing separate legislation. The relevant committee will have the opportunity to do so but there is one limitation in that there are times when, even though the resourcing and configuration of the judicial system are a matter for the Department of Justice, a committee like ours would probably have intimate knowledge of many of the reasons one may or may not proceed as described. In this respect, Mr. Flynn's point about the Circuit Court is well made.

Could the witnesses clarify for those of us who are not lawyers whether there is a difference between having a stand-alone court and a division of a court, or have I misunderstood this?

For example, there is already a judge and a secondary judge designated to deal with planning and environmental cases. Is Mr. Flynn saying there could be a division of the High Court that is not a stand-alone court but is a group of judges within that court? Will Mr. Flynn explain that a bit more in plain English?