Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It does not. If this commission is supposed to be impartial, fair and reasonable in the way it selects judges, is it not extraordinary that, from among its own members, it cannot select a chairperson who is, or has been, a lawyer or a judge? Is that not an extraordinary disqualification to impose upon a group which is supposed to be impartial in every other way in respect of the appointment of judges?

I will now come to the amendment proposed by Senators Bacik, Humphreys, Nash and Ó Ríordáin. In respect of their definition of "the service of the State", I am fully supportive of the proposition that it should be clearly defined to whom this term refers. I expect the Minister to agree with that. We cannot have a situation in which people who are "in the service of the State" goes undefined. The Senators have proposed an amendment which says that:

A person is employed in the service of the State if he or she is—

(a) a member of the Garda Síochána,

(b) a member of the Defence Forces, or

(c) a civil servant in the Civil Service of the Government or the Civil Service of the State.

Are HSE executives or chief executives of statutory bodies included in this definition? Why do we go with loose language of this kind? Why do we not accept that, if we are going to disqualify people from membership of the commission, we should define exactly who is disqualified? I have no problem with the proposals of Senator Bacik and her colleagues because I can see precisely what they are dealing with. They are saying that we should define the term and make it clear that civil servants who are subject to ministerial direction - express or implied, real or imagined - cannot function on this body.

I want to summarise my position in respect of section 2. The diversity definition given by Senator Ruane would disimprove the section. To have this body inquire into the socioeconomic status of people is a big mistake. To put this body in a situation where it has to ask people whether they are a member of a minority group or whether they are in the so-called majority group is a big mistake. To exclude a person from chairing the commission solely by virtue of the fact that they know something about what they are doing is wrong.