John Dennehy (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I will refer briefly to two matters I raised previously. Eminent people who are willing to serve the State as members of any commission should not have to suffer personal abuse from politicians or any other source about their appointments or results of their examination. To have to suffer insults such as being described as party hacks will discourage many suitably qualified people from accepting an invitation to serve on commissions.

Another route by which commission members are regularly sourced is the ex officio route, such as the Clerk of the Dáil or Seanad. It is unacceptable that aspersions should be cast on their appointment or integrity. Such comments are usually aimed at Government appointments and the intention is to suggest that the commission member is somewhat biased towards or in favour of the Government.

If we continue to question people's integrity, we will find it difficult to get them to serve in the areas in which they are needed.

I also have some concern about naming inquiries after the individual most closely associated with them. The same is true of reports, be it the Hanly report or any other. It puts people in the spotlight, which in many cases is not what they would wish. People should not have to suffer criticism because they are doing a job for the State.

The intention behind sections 9 and 10 is that, in future, we will have a less adversarial route to travel by taking the big legal team off the pitch as much as possible and allowing the work to continue in private. The following section deals with the matter of redress in cases where people feel they have been wronged.

I am concerned that the legal profession may try to find a route around this Bill to ensure that there is a full team at all times, given the level of potential earnings involved. I encourage the Minister to ensure that the Bill is watertight in terms of such a challenge to ensure that the State's money is saved.

I commend the Bill to the House. It is badly needed and, as I mentioned previously, the delay in bringing it forward was caused by the nonsense we get during the Order of Business every week. We should get on with the job.

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