Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are speaking to a group of amendments. As far as they go, the amendments are relatively sound and reflect they fact that on Committee Stage there was a general consensus on the direction in which the Bill would move. It is my analysis, while one would never think it, that Fianna Fáil has essentially conceded the principle of much of this argument. The comments of the Attorney General about the Bill, however, were ill-informed and very inappropriate because of the context in which they were made and the manner and type of language used. His comments were ill-informed because they separated out the text of the Bill, as it existed at that time, without considering the discussion that had happened on the Bill and what the discussion clearly pointed to, namely, consensus in favour of a lay majority, consensus about finding a way to return the President of the Circuit Court and the President of the District Court on to the commission, and consensus on the need to ensure the lay nominations for the commission and those who come from the public appointments system are more radically reflective of Irish society and bring in a greater breadth of experience. With regard to criteria that must be reached by the lay majority nominations, there is no question of these lay members being mugs. There is a very lengthy list of criteria and expertise expected. The lay members of the commission would be eminently qualified and capable.

I do not believe that this is radical legislation. We are all agreed on the need for independent and transparent judicial appointments. This is not a particularly radical proposal. If we want to be radical in dealing with this, then we also need to consider other reforms of the Judiciary, including sentencing guidelines. I have made this point a number of times and the Ministers will be aware of this. I firmly believe that both pieces of legislation need to be considered as a package to reform the Judiciary properly.

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