Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I am satisfied there is an intent on the part of the committee to deal with this issue by coming to a consensus on it. I am certainly prepared to consider the matter further for Report Stage, on the basis there may well be a number of options available to us to achieve what, in effect, is the same objective, which is the balance between having a commission with a number of people, or membership, that is not considered so unwieldy as to be unworkable or problematic and, at the same time, acknowledging the importance of the membership of the presidents of the courts. I really feel we should do that. The original scheme, as committee members recall, had ex officioparticipation of Presidents of the Circuit Court and the District Court in the selection process, but that was seen as distinguishing between presidents who are commission members and those who are not. There is an issue there about fairness and the need to be representative. I am minded to give this matter further consideration to see how best we can achieve that balance between, on the one hand, the commission not having such a large number of members as to be problematic and, on the other hand, the need to ensure we can have the input and draw on the experience and expertise of the presidents of the courts. We can only do this by having their active engagement and involvement, and that would be through membership.

Reference was made to the Attorney General and whether we might reflect on the membership of the Attorney General and the role and function of the Office of the Attorney General. I very much caution against this. The Attorney General has a very important role to play and brings a special perspective to the process. It is important this is acknowledged in the context of the legislation. I would not be minded to dispense with this very important role.