Senators have asked if senior counsel could not discharge the functions now being carried out by tribunal judges. There is no requirement of any legal qualification although many senior counsel would be very suitable for conducting commissions of inquiry. The successful inquiry into allegations of child sex abuse in the diocese of Ferns carried out by George Birmingham, SC, the successful inquiry into the sexual abuse of swimmers carried out by Robert Murphy, SC, and the Kilkenny incest inquiry carried out by the then senior counsel, Catherine McGuinness, who is now a Supreme Court judge, show that a judge should not carry out every inquiry provided for or established by law.