Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are entering into unknown territory and have to be careful. We are seeking to identify the characteristics and eligibility of the lay persons who are to be appointed to the commission the Minister wishes to establish. I will be supporting amendment No. 30 in the name of Deputy Clare Daly because it seeks to remove section 12(4). The subsection refers to how people who are to be appointed to the board as lay persons must display certain characteristics. The first is that they must be a fit and proper person, which goes without saying. It also states they should have demonstrated experience of effective board management and corporate governance. That is legal-speak for getting people appointed who have served on boards of Irish plcs or other private or public company boards. I do not have any objection to these individuals, but I have a concern that we will find ourselves in a situation where appointments to the judicial commission will be similar to appointments made to Irish plcs. It will be the same group of individuals who were appointed by friends to other groups and the State will see that they are very respectable and knowledgeable, with great knowledge of board management and corporate governance. Anyone who sits on a board can say he or she has knowledge of board management; it does not even matter which board it was. It is a dangerous provision to insert as we do not want people coming from private companies or plcs onto the board to bulk up their CVs and enable them to say they served for four or five years on the judicial appointments commission. It is about insiders and we need to be careful about what the Public Appointments Service is doing. I am surprised that the Minister, Deputy Shane Ross, is supporting this as he used to rail against insiders appointing friends to other plcs

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