Ms Maura McNally:

In answer to that, I disagree. When one is sitting on a bench listening to arguments being made, one has to understand the parameters of what is allowed. Is it hearsay? Are the questions leading? Is it within the rules of evidence? Is it allowed on a regulatory basis? Is it defamatory? Various questions must be understood by the person who is listening to an argument.

It is similar to managing a football team. One can have as many selectors as one wants but the person who makes the decision about who the best players are, is the manager. I would rather have the manager making the decisions than all of the selectors coming together trying to make a singular decision, when it comes to a determination in court.

Head 40 provides for knowledge of the practice and procedures in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the High Court. That is a necessity. If one will have a brain surgery, one wants the surgeon who has experience in brain surgery carrying out the surgery. It is as simple as that.

To go back to other points raised earlier, about the access to the professions, I wanted to mention the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, LSRA, is doing a study and has invited submissions from both the Law Society-----