Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes. In any event, it is not right and proper. There must be some transparency. Accountability is important and independence must be safeguarded. I must add that some of the people at that table, by the way, would have made fine judges. I might be relying on them for a vote at another time.

Turning to the process of how people come to be judges and how they are promoted and elevated when they are on the Bench, it is important that some of the lay members of the commission have experience in consumer protection, perhaps trade union activity and-or the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. The judges being appointed should, as was mentioned by Deputy Costello, have some experience in the courts. If not, they should be trained up. It is also not really appropriate for the Attorney General to be involved in the process. As a member of the Joint Committee on Justice, I look forward to fuller engagement with the Minister regarding this legislation at a later stage. I welcome section 39. It is important to have equal numbers of men and women. Much work has been done on this aspect. It is also important to have a Judiciary reflective of the diversity of the people in the country. Equally, it is important that Irish speakers can access the courts through their native language.

On a broader issue, I raise the issue of judicial processes on the island. I met Paula Rainey recently. She is the daughter of a Royal Ulster Constabulary, RUC, man who was killed in 1977. Her father was Joe Campbell, who was shot dead as he closed Cushendall station in County Antrim. His family believe he had uncovered collusion by members of the police with paramilitaries. Information was withheld from him regarding a specific threat. The RUC was, at least, negligent and failed to act to prevent one of its own being killed. Mr. Campbell was not even warned. In a subsequent investigation, the Chief Constable could not remember the incident. The investigation was inadequate. The Ombudsman's office investigated it and said it was damaging to the family and to policing. His widow is now 87 years old. The members of the family have waited since 1977 for truth and justice. I ask the Government not to consent to the amnesty legislation and to ensure the inquest is not delayed any more. It is also necessary to ensure the terms of reference for the inquest state the British State will be compelled to undertake a transparent process and not be able to hide behind any false national security claims.

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