Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think we have something of a balance here. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has standard guidelines on allowable levels of remuneration and expenses that will apply here as they do to boards. I anticipate that the level will probably be along the same lines as membership of a State board. I do not accept the comparison between non-legal members of this commission and jurors. I remind the House that we are in the early stages of preparing a new juries (amendment) Bill, which will be based on the recommendations in a Law Reform Commission report that was published a number of years ago. I will be happy to debate that at an appropriate time. I do not expect that these positions will be full-time positions. I expect that serious consideration will be given to the job at hand. I believe diversity is important, as we heard in the contributions made by Senator Dolan and others last night. We should not continue to have a lawyerarchy dealing with these issues. We should invite interested non-legal people with expertise to participate in this process. These people will not be randomers who are picked from the side of the street. I ask Senators to desist from simplistic and unfair comparisons when they are talking about who these people might be. Serious people will be involved in a serious task.

We are not doing something that has not been done in other jurisdictions. I have adverted to the position in our nearest jurisdiction. As part of the modernisation of the appointments process in the UK, non-lawyers and non-legal people have been introduced to that process. As we do the same here, we should not proceed with the type of fear that was evident in Senator Norris's contribution. It is not as if the sky is going to fall in if an expert non-legal person is involved in this process. In light of the many comments uttered by the Senator over the years about the need to improve the administration of justice in the courts system, I am surprised that on the first occasion he is backing the lawyers and looking to keep the closed shop.