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

I wish to address some of the points that have been raised by other Deputies. We start from a position of having supported this Bill on Second Stage and Committee Stage. Others did not. Fianna Fáil, for example, did not support it for its own reasons. We have always believed that it is necessary to improve the manner in which judicial appointments are made, to take them out of political influence. That was our view at the beginning and it remains our view. It is the case that we have keenly pursued the issue of sentencing guidelines for several years, through several Private Members' Bills. We saw an appropriate location for it in the Judicial Council Bill and saw provisions in that legislation which we held to be inadequate. Anyone who does not think that it is reasonable to go to the Minister for Justice and Equality and outline the Bill's inadequacies and express the desire for the Department to do what it could to see it strengthened. I am sure that the Oireachtas would support it being strengthened. Anyone who does not believe that is reasonable is grandstanding. It is something that is very clearly in the public interest, it has been sought for a very long time and it is vitally important. I do not think that there is any more to it than that.

It remains the case that we will analyse each amendment as it comes. I will not support Deputy O'Callaghan's amendment because I believe in the principle of a lay majority. I do not support the Attorney General being part of it. Consequently, I will consider those amendments on that basis. I am anxious to ensure, however, that the presidents of the Circuit Court and the District Court will be reintroduced into the equation.

In terms of what is being discussed and the proposals there, there is more of a consensus than one would imagine listening to the debate. There is agreement on the need for more transparency and that there needs to be independence; there is agreement on reintroducing the presidents of the District Court and the Circuit Court.

There is broadly a consensus, albeit with some disagreement, on a lay majority. There is also a widespread view that there needs to be a way to ensure that the lay members are not just traditional Public Appointments Service appointments but that we find other ways of making them more diverse and more representative. The outstanding issues can and should be addressed and I hope they will be.

See this speech in context