Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I wish to touch on another issue which was dealt with earlier relating to checks and balances between the government, the houses of parliament and the courts system. I was looking at what is happening in Australia, where a national cabinet seems to have been established consisting of the Prime Minister and the premiers of the six Australian states. Is there a danger in something like this? I am not saying that people have exceeded their jurisdiction or have taken on more powers than they actually have. Are there lessons to be learned from what has occurred here in respect of ensuring that, while governments need to react appropriately, at no stage can they exceed their jurisdiction and remove the rights of people, especially the right of people to access the courts? Can we ensure that the role of the courts in different countries is not restricted? Are there lessons we can learn from what has occurred during the past six months in this whole area?