Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to speak to amendment No. 3, as proposed by Senator Ruane. I wholeheartedly agree with the aim of the diversity aspect of the amendment. Having diversity in every walk of life should most certainly be an aspiration for us all . It is not only good for the person but for all of us to have diverse participation in decision-making. I am glad Senator Higgins called the merit argument a red herring because that is exactly what it is. We hear about it in many ways. Merit is taken for granted. Many people can be there on merit. It is not exclusive to one group or one type of voice. Merit comes in many forms.

I wish to comment on the point raised by Senator McDowell to the effect that somebody who qualifies to be a judge - who would need to be a lawyer who has been practising for ten years - is, by definition, not a working-class person but part of the earning class and that, therefore, it is somehow not an argument to make at all. I have almost ten years' experience as a practising solicitor but I would still define myself as working class. I will always define myself as working class because it is a cultural thing, as Senator Ruane rightly pointed out. An unconscious bias does exist. One sometimes has to be on the receiving end of it to realise it is there, but it is a very real thing. Throwing out examples of a few very exceptional people who made their way through to the top of the legal profession does not mean that anybody can do it. If we just have a few people from one particular group or one particular area in the country, it does not mean that everybody can make it.

I was very lucky to get the opportunity to train as a solicitor. It was during the Celtic tiger. I do not think I would have the same opportunities today. I trained with a very good firm that paid me a good decent wage and also my college fees, which were substantial. That allowed me the opportunity. I remember having a conversation with a gentleman in the same profession who was much older and from a very different kind of background. A couple of years prior to starting my legal training, a minimum wage for trainee solicitors was introduced. I had to sit there and listen to this man saying that he was totally opposed to the introduction of a minimum wage for trainee solicitors because the wrong kind of person was getting into the profession. I was that wrong kind of person and I probably still am for some. In any event, I made it through.