Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last night, Senator Dolan made an exceptionally valid point about the issue of lay people selecting judges and having the competency to be advised in that regard. He compared it eloquently with juries. Ordinary citizens are summoned to serve on a jury. They benefit from the legal argument and the case that is put forward by both a defendant and a plaintiff. Colleagues might not agree but there is a lot of merit in what Senator Ruane said. There is no point demonising lay people. Instead, we should put the resources behind them and give them the necessary expertise and advice to do the job, just as we do with juries, as Senator Dolan correctly pointed out last night.