Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his very considered reply to my question about the consultation between GRECO and his officials concerning what I said was a relatively minor change to the report, and to the wording of paragraph 35 in particular, a change which did not alter the substance of the critique that GRECO had expressed. However, I repeat my question on the number of appointees to the commission if section 10 were passed with the Government amendments which have already been passed. It is now to have 17 members, seven of whom are to be appointed under section 12. I asked, given that was quite different to the number originally anticipated in the Government's own draft of section 10, whether that number was somewhat unwieldy.

I referred the Minister to amendment No. 14, which we put in on behalf of the Labour Party and which specified that different bodies would nominate, so it would be easier to ensure an appropriate balance of knowledge, experience, qualifications, training and expertise among the non-judicial or lay members of the commission. While we will debate this in more detail, under section 12(6) there are criteria to which the Public Appointments Service must refer in recommending lay persons for the commission. A possible problem may be that it is hard to ensure one has that spread of knowledge and expertise, given the way sections 10 and 12 are currently drafted. That was why we put forward the perhaps more focused method where there would be different bodies, like the legal aid services and the citizens information services, nominating lay people for appointment. It is really a question about this number of 17.