Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister. There is nothing contentious in this Bill and I support it as we are being asked to do a simple job. The Minister posed the question of whether we should be providing for more than two judges. While I accept there would be a lack of transparency if the Government were to appoint ten judges without reference to the Oireachtas, the figure of only two judges seems small. The Minister had to go to the trouble of providing legislation specifically for the provision of two further judges. I wonder whether he will have to come back to the House in 12 months seeking the provision of another one or two judges. As the Minister has said, this seems to lack flexibility. He has indicated that his Department is examining this and I hope it will be able to come up with a more flexible way of dealing with the matter in the future.

We are all aware that the appointment of one of the judges, Mr. Ryan, arises because of the resignation of Ms Justice Laffoy. Perhaps the Minister will be able to tell us who the other judge will be or maybe he is simply giving himself the room to have the option of appointing a judge if the need arises in the future.

Many judges are currently taken up with work in the tribunals. Will the Minister tell us his thinking on this matter? I seem to recall the Minister saying in the past that he would prefer if this system worked differently and wondering if it was necessary to have a judge to head these tribunals. Perhaps a senior counsel would be qualified to do the job, thereby freeing up many judges. I would like to hear the Minister's comments on that.

I welcome the Minister's intention to ask the National Crime Council to carry out a review of delays in bringing people to court. That is an area in which we would all like to see improvement. Once a crime is committed and an individual is apprehended, the sooner he or she is brought to court the better. I would welcome anything the Minister could do to speed up that process.

I wish to put a question to the Minister about trials and the attendance of gardaí in courts although I am not sure if it is relevant now. Many gardaí have to attend the courts on a daily basis. Has the Minister looked at the possibility of gardaí making their statements in a way other than having to attend court? This practice is tying up Garda time, which could be better spent in the community. We continually speak of putting more gardaí on the street. Does the Minister know how much time is spent by gardaí in court attendances? Is there a way around this that would allow Garda time to be better spent?

I welcome and support the Bill.