Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Nuair a bhí mé ag éisteacht leis an díospóireacht seo san oifig, chuala mé roinnt de na hargóintí a bhí á dhéanamh ag Teachtaí maidir le leasú Uimh. 6, ach go háirithe. D'fhéach mé ar leasú Uimh. 7a, in ainm an Teachta Wallace, freisin. Measaim go bhfuil a lán le rá maidir leis an gceist seo. Tá go leor ráite ag daoine cheana féin. Is í an fhadhb is mó atá agam leis an moladh seo ná go gceapann daoine gur chóir go mbeadh aon athrú atá le teacht sa chomhthéacs seo mall, agus nár chóir go mbeadh athrú mór i gceist. Tá sé i gceist acu siúd atá ag déanamh cosaint ar an status quo, agus ar ghrúpa pribhléideach inár sochaí, nach bhfuil dóthain eolais ag ghnáthphobal na tíre - nach bhfuil an t-eolas sin ach amháin acu siúd a bheidh roghnaithe mar bhaill an choimisiúin seo. Ní chreidim gur cheart go dtiocfaidh na baill ón dream atá ag cleachtadh an dlí amháin.In terms of my family background, relatives on my mother's side and my father's brother-in-law practise law here and in another jurisdiction. I have cousins who practise in Geneva, so I have some understanding of the issue but I do not believe, and I do not think anyone else would believe, that they are above others, elitist or the privileged few and that only they could dictate to the rest of society who should or should not be a judge as if there was no input or reflection from the ordinary commoner could give them. We should be very careful that we are not trying to continue that elitism and privilege. When we get the opportunity, we should try to present an alternative. Nobody is saying that those who go on the commission should have no understanding of law or how the legal system works. They do not have to be practising solicitors, barristers or judges to appoint other judges, no more than we should ever return to the way it was in the past when one had to be a practising Fianna Fáiler or Fine Gaeler in government to decide on the appointment of judges in this country or one had to have an anti-republican bias, as we have seen over the years. Many people in our society today know much more about the courts and how the courts system works than those who pretend that they understand the law inside out. In recent years, many of the big legal cases came on the back of the ordinary person having some understanding of the law, pointing out flaws in the law and using the courts in their own right to highlight those. Many laws have been interrogated because of the benefit of lay people in the courts. They understand. They are not part of the elite. They are not part of the privileged group.

In terms of what others are saying about a commission of 17, 21, 23 or whatever number of members, I agree that the membership should be as small as possible in order to deliver the result we want but if we want to include people from the legal profession and some from lay society, it then starts to get unwieldy, as is the case in this House because we had to have members of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Fine Gael, the Green Party on committees. We have committees of 21 members. The most recently formed committee, and I do not know the number of members it ended up with, is the committee on the report on Seanad reform. As far as I know, it has 21 members. It can work if the membership is big. It can be unwieldy but given that the task is not so onerous, I believe we could deal with a big number once it does not get too unwieldy.

Tá mé ag rá gur cheart go mbeadh tromlach de ghnáthphobal na tíre bainteach le roghnú na mbreithimh, más féidir. Sa deireadh thiar thall, tá sé mar bhunchloch sa chóras atá againn faoi láthair gur daoine atá ar chomhleibhéal leo siúd atá os comhair na cúirte a ghlacann cinnithe dlíthiúla. Má tá na breithimh ar chomhleibhéal linn, ba chóir go mbeadh ghnáthphobal na tíre in ann inchur a dhéanamh nuair atá siad á roghnú. Meabhraím don Teach go bhfuil sé mar chumhacht ag breithimh saoirse a bhaint ó dhaoine - ó ghnáthphobal na tíre - nuair atá siad os comhair na cúirte. Is rud mór é sin. Nílimid ag iarraidh go mbeadh aon sórt bias ag na breithimh a roghnaítear. Impím ar dhaoine smaoineamh athuair ar an leasú seo agus tacaíocht a thabhairt do Shinn Féin sa chás seo.

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