Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is important to note that the amendment in the name of my colleague, Deputy O'Callaghan, proposes a commission of 11 members with an appropriate mix of lay people and a spread of key people across the Judiciary, including the president of the District Court, the president of the Circuit Court, the president of the High Court, the president of the Court of Appeal and the Chief Justice. I think it is right that he is proposing that lay members of the commission should be nominated by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Free Legal Advice Centres, the Citizens Information Board and an tÚdarás um Ard-Oideachas. He is proposing that a barrister and a solicitor should be nominated to the commission under section 16 of the Bill. He is also proposing that the commission should be able to appoint its own chairperson. As none of these people would have a single majority, there will be a genuine mix or spread of people across the commission. It would be a misinterpretation to say that there will be a majority of any type.

The Minister for Justice and Equality is proposing that there will be up to 17 people on this board, which would be an overwhelming number, especially given that the judicial appointments commission will appoint very few judges in any given year. I note that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport has been sitting on his shoulder since the beginning of these proceedings. I assume he will do likewise next week and in the weeks beyond. As someone who read the newspaper columns that the Minister, Deputy Ross, used to write over many years, I am surprised by this proposal. He was the biggest critic of quangos and of excessive costs and layers within the public service. The pressure brought to bear by this proposal would impose a hundredfold increase in cost. I suggest this would probably be the biggest increase in costs associated with a single quango during the term in office of this Government and its predecessor. Under this proposal, we will have a director of the office being appointed. The establishment of a judicial appointments commission office is being proposed. There will be a spread around the director in terms of the secretariat. I am surprised that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, who has a number of quangos in his own area, is proposing one of the biggest expansions in bureaucracy we have seen. The Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, as it currently stands, is efficient. We all accept that reforms are needed.

5 o’clock

To propose such a multiplication of cost just to integrate his own reform proposals is really surprising. Can the Minister explain the necessity for that cost increase? Why do we need to bring the budget, as Deputy O'Callaghan said, from €10,000 or €20,000 on an annual basis from the Department of Justice and Equality to one of €1 million? As per the previous proposal, if the Minister had his way with the various procedural committees and everything else, this would have cost even more.

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