Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Can our little country really afford another layer of bureaucracy, in light of the HSE and other such bodies that do not seem to be accountable to anybody making serious decisions? If they were positive decisions, we would be glad, but sadly they are having very negative impacts on society and they do not seem to be accountable, especially the HSE, to anyone for what they are not doing.

It is ridiculous when one reads here that the PAS must ensure that a layperson will not be recommended for appointment as chairperson of the commission unless it is satisfied that she or he is a fit and proper person. Deputy Ó Snodaigh could be right in saying that other people around the country have judicial and legal knowledge as well as the people at the Bar, judges or whoever, but will those people end up on the commission? That is the question.

While I did not select them, let us look at what the Citizens' Assembly has inflicted on the country. Who picked its members? How were they assessed? If we are going to have a commission in line with something like that body, we are looking for trouble.

The Chief Justice has a tried and trusted record under his belt with 30 or 40 years of service on every level from solicitor to barrister, to District Court judge, to Circuit Court judge all the way up along the line. It is ridiculous to even suggest that we should be replacing those people with laypeople. It will take years to find out whether they are right or wrong with the appointments they make.

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