Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

Amendment No. 43 refers to appointing qualified people to an appeals tribunal. I feel strongly that the constituency the Minister describes in section 16(3) is unnecessarily restrictive. As I said on Second Stage, I understand that it has probably been modelled on other tribunals. However, it overlooks the pool of experience provided by former prison governors, for example, or those who have worked as chaplains, doctors, teachers or in a range of other positions in prison. Surely someone who has worked as a chaplain in a prison for the last 20 years would be sufficiently qualified to deal with the kinds of questions addressed by an appeals tribunal. I firmly believe that it should not be confined to members of the legal profession because of the experience over which people such as chaplains, doctors, psychiatrists and governors dispose. They would be fitting persons to appoint to such an appeals body, which should not be confined to lawyers.