Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----and not far behind. The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, knows it. We are lucky to have him because at least he understands this. We do not have to spend time spelling it out. He knows this better than anyone else from his wide and expansive practice in his county and across the midlands. That is where this game is at. I think it would be important and judges would welcome it. They have been looking for this for a long time. However, this legislation has been rushed.

This legislation would have been significantly improved if the Minister for Justice and Equality and, more particularly, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, had been willing to accommodate significant elements of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill proposed by Deputy O'Callaghan. There is a lot of changes in that. My colleague and party leader, Deputy Howlin, spoke about all manner of things the other night. We know the State, in various guises, is the biggest consumer of legal services. We have the separation of powers and we have to jealously guard it. We have no right to be making comments on a case before the courts or a decision of the courts. In fairness, the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, always cautioned us to ensure that we do not make any comments on current or potential cases. We have no right to make comments on anything that is before the courts. Concomitant with and ancillary to that is that we have rights. We cannot be restricted in bringing forward legislation irrespective of whether the Judiciary has a different view. As legislators, we are entitled to our view and we are given by the people the role to bring forward legislation as we see fit. However, such legislation must be constructive and balanced.

Committee Stage will provide an opportunity to significantly enhance and change for the better the Bill as proposed. I think there will have to be significant changes or amendments. In the context of the Government not commanding an overall majority, the Bill may not progress further. I can perceive significant difficulties in the Seanad. This is not just an argument; it is about ensuring that the legislation which emerges will be the very best.

Deputy Calleary referred to quangos, and this is a significant quango. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, was a Senator when he was writing for the newspapers. I remember his fulminating every Sunday about quangos. They were strident columns in the newspaper. He castigated various Governments of every colour and hue about their, shall we say, innovative ways of creating quangos. Sometimes it suited the Government of the day to establish a quango because it wanted to depute to the latter the decisions that it did not want to make. In fairness, the Minister was right about that. The Government would have been devolving responsibility for particular matters or for decisions that it did not wish to take or did not want to be answerable for in the Dáil. That was one of the things that used to drive people mad. The then Senator also fulminated about the costs of these quangos, but now he is advocating the establishment of the mother of all quangos. The fact that he cannot accommodate the Chief Justice in terms of her being appointed as chairperson of the panel-----

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