Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Teach chun an Bhille seo a phlé. I welcome the Minister to the House. I also welcome the Bill the purpose of which is to increase by two the number of High Court judges. Currently, the maximum prescribed by law is 26 and that figure is to be increased to 28. It is obvious this amendment is being made to allow for the appointment to High Court judge of the new chairman of the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse.

Senator Terry made an interesting point, to which I subscribe to an extent, that senior counsel and people other than High Court judges could undertake chairmanship of the many tribunals currently being held. In this instance, however, the Government is correctly dealing with the matter because the tribunal in question is particularly important. Given its nature, it is vital a High Court judge is involved to provide the expertise required to process the system and to ensure the matter is perceived to have been dealt with properly and efficiently.

There was a great deal of debate in both Houses and in the media on the replacement of Ms Justice Laffoy. That this inquiry might last for ten, 12 or 13 years – various lengths of time were mentioned – places a serious question mark over the effectiveness of the process. It is essential that the Minister does all he can to have this matter dealt with expeditiously while ensuring the manner in which people are dealt with is fair and reasonable.

The appointment of a High Court judge also demonstrates Government commitment in this area. Many of the tribunals are investigating important issues such as the ethical operation of State apparatus. Such matters are highly sensitive from a political point of view. As somebody who supported the establishment of the tribunals five or six years ago, I would have been slow to endorse them had I been aware of the length of time they would take and their cost to and imposition on the taxpayer. There must be a better way of approaching these matters. I am aware the Minister recently commented on the duration and cost of tribunals in the past. At one stage he indicated he was examining alternative mechanisms for dealing with important issues of public concern. We need to deal with these matters in ways that are not a drain on State resources and on the taxpayer while at the same time ensuring we achieve our objective more expeditiously than is currently the case.

Decisions were made by the courts on the inquiry by an Oireachtas committee into the Abbeylara incident. Such parliamentary inquiries appear to operate well in other jurisdictions. I may not be as knowledgeable as is necessary to make a decision on them but they appear to operate with a degree of effectiveness and at a lesser cost. Perhaps that is something we could consider. We could also take a more inquisitorial approach to the performance of tribunals rather than introducing the advocacy system which operates in the courts. That might also contribute to speedier processing of inquiries. There is very fertile ground there to which the Minister could apply his intellect to avoid, as we witnessed in recent tribunals, a situation where many lawyers turn up to represent particular areas under investigation at enormous cost to the State.