Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Okay. I do not mean to make the Acting Ceann Comhairle's job more difficult. I will simply say that over the 40-year course of the armed conflict, if we want to call it that, there were people in this country who tried on a regular basis to circumvent and undermine the judicial system and to undermine juries. Many of them did not even recognise the courts. This is all factual. There are very few people who could disagree with that. We know that many of the people in question happened to come from one political party. That party is now supporting this legislation from Fine Gael and the Minister, Deputy Ross.

I think this legislation is deeply flawed. I earnestly believe that our Judiciary and our courts have served us very well. We do not need to take a wrecking-ball to the legal and judicial structures of the State that have served us so well since Independence. I would like to know where the Minister, Deputy Ross's vendetta and crusade come from. What is the reason for this? Who has advised the Minister, Deputy Ross, on this? Who is talking in his ear and telling him that our court system needs to be turned upside-down? I do not believe he made this up himself.

My party and I agree certain changes and reforms are required. Downgrading the position of the Chief Justice to that of a member of an advisory committee, however, is akin to asking the Taoiseach to serve on an Oireachtas or Government committee but not chair it. What is that about? Do we not trust the Judiciary? I do. What this legislation tells me, however, is that this Government and Cabinet do not trust the Irish judicial system. This is the fundamental issue I have with this. Why support this flawed legislation if that were not the case? I would like it if the Minister for Justice and Equality were here to respond and to list for me the Government's concerns with judicial appointments in the past. Let him list the judges with whom the Government has a problem. We will then be told that the separation of powers applies. I agree fully with the separation of powers. It is my view and that of my party's, however, that this legislation undermines the separation of powers between the Oireachtas and the Judiciary. This is because of the debate that has taken place over the last few weeks, both publicly and here the House and led by its cheerleader-in-chief, the Minister, Deputy Ross.

I would like the Minister, Deputy Ross, to concentrate on the job he is supposed to do in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. He was, the last time I checked, the Minister in that Department.

It is hard to figure that out. I know the Minister, Deputy Ross, very well and I mean no disrespect to him but I have looked at the performance and output of his Department in the more than a year he has held that position and basically all he has done in that time is produce a new timetable for Dublin Bus. It is gas. I am a commuter. I come from the commuter constituency of Dublin Fingal where people are trying to get in and out of Dublin city every day in an over-packed DART and underfunded rail system. The Minister, Deputy Ross, does absolutely nothing about it. He has called for a second capital review. This follows the review of the previous Minister, Deputy Donohoe. The best thing to do in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport when one does not wish to do anything is seek a capital review. The previous Minister, Deputy Donohoe, did it and when Deputy Ross took over he decided to have another review as well.

The Minister, Deputy Ross, should be concentrating on projects such as metro north, the DART underground and the future expansion and development of Dublin Airport. I met with the Minister regarding the new runway developments at Dublin Airport and I thanked him for meeting with a group of residents a number of months ago on this issue. However, the Minister has a statutory instrument that has been on his desk for months regarding the proposal to make the Irish Aviation Authority the competent body to assess night flights and planning restrictions at Dublin Airport. I would have thought that for the fifth busiest airport in Europe-----

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