David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

One could form a good judgement from a general knowledge of somebody, which is my own experience on a number of boards, and I have rarely been wrong.

I return to this without any kind of personal axe to grind but we could not have a clearer example of an inappropriate appointment made by this ministry. It is glaring. Other people may be a little timid and nervous about mentioning these things but I am not. I do it with no malice whatever. I have great respect and affection for the Minister but this is a matter of historical record. It has been done by this Minister and by this Government and we should take that very clearly into account. There is no point in saying, "We know the Minister and she would never do a thing like that", as one of my colleagues has indicated. Perhaps she would not do it now but she did in the past and that is a very clear warning to us all.