John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy McGrath will have his time. He should take it easy. The fact of the matter is that that Bill explicitly excludes the Judiciary. There will be no more nasty forms for them to fill out like the ones the Minister, Deputy Ross, has to fill out on his returns, or which county councillors have to fill out. There will be no nasty forms like that for them. They do not have to report at all. The Minister stood over that Bill; he okayed it. He is also okaying, which I do not like, the setting up of another quango. It is a quango. There will be a director, staff, the judicial appointments commission, which will be 13 people, and the office to back it up. I am sure all of these will come with glossy magazines and reports at the end of every year and everyone within the system will be delighted because the status quoapproves. All of that is for 20 jobs a year.

I imagine if the Minister picked a few good lads out of this House, they could interview those potential judges. They could probably go down through the Bangalore Principles with them, which we have not signed up to either. They could probably deal with their independence, impartiality, integrity, propriety, equality, competence and diligence. It is more or less what is wanted for most jobs. A decision could then be made and we could get on with the job and then have separation of powers.

Let us have accountability in this House for the citizen. Let us have good, decent legislation that reflects the will of this Parliament, not legislation that is just pulled together with the only real conviction and passion behind it being that of the Minister, Deputy Ross, not Fine Gael for sure. I ask the Minister to give this Bill plenty of time in the House and to ask for and encourage amendments to the Bill. Far too much legislation passes through the House and it is only after the passage we discover how bad it is. I suggest plenty of time for Committee Stage and to listen to the Opposition or we might press the other button, not the abstention one.

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