The Minister justified the legislation to the Oireachtas at the time as a measure necessary because of the disappearance of certain institutions such as the grand jury. It is interesting to note that both the then leader of the Labour Party, Thomas Johnson, and the then Minister actually spoke strongly on the basis that existing and former Deputies and Senators would be eligible for appointment to these bodies. I say this lest anyone think that there was, in the dim and distant past, a highly apolitical system which has degraded in recent years into something radically different. This does not appear to be the case. The Act actually makes provision for Senators and Deputies to be appointed to the committees.