Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The ballot concept is well understand. Basically, one draws lots rather than holding a vote to choose who will be in the jury. I will, however, reflect on the issue raised by Senator Burke in that context.

The Law Reform Commission considered the option of having alternate jurors as opposed to a group of 15 jurors. It was concerned that if one were to have alternates or substitutes, two or three substitutes would not adequately focus on the evidence because they might doubt that they would be called into service. This is a case of six of one and half a dozen of the other.

We were very conscious, particularly with long trials, of the issues that could arise. For example, if a trial ran for six or eight months under our current system and if three jurors fell ill, the trial would effectively have to be aborted and started all over again with a fresh jury. Therefore, having considered what the Law Reform Commission had to say and because of the need to address this issue, we concluded that it was appropriate to implement the Law Reform Commission's recommendation. Obviously, if difficulties arise with it, the manner in which it is working can be monitored. If there are 15 individuals, all of whom think they may have to be engaged in making a decision, the commission felt that, on balance, they were more likely to fully focus on evidence than if we had 12 jurors plus three substitutes.