Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the issue of lay members and what constitutes a lay person, I listened with great intent, as I always do, to the contribution of my esteemed colleague, Senator Norris, in which he said that for him what constitutes a lay person is black and white. He put great emphasis on the issue of experience. There is a point up to which I do not disagree with him. I would not dare to call into question the bona fides of the current Judiciary and those who have gone before. However, I have with me a report from June 2017 in which a European anti-corruption body - GRECO - found Ireland to be "globally unsatisfactory, particularly in the areas of judicial appointments and independence". I would contest that in terms of what has gone before, all of those with the greatest experience in the world have not come up to the standard expected by GRECO.