Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It would be very interesting to do so. In any event, these two functions are without parallel in the Legal Services Regulatory Authority and they go to the heart of the function of the commission. The first is to advise and assist the commission in its consideration of applicants at a preliminary stage in the course of the selection procedures. In this provision, it is to do two things, namely, to advise the commission and to assist it in its consideration of applicants at a preliminary stage in the course of the selection procedure. The commission will carry out its consideration of applicants at a preliminary stage but it will be advised or assisted by these contractual persons, consultants or advisers. How will this work out in practice? Presumably, based on the wording of subsection (8)(a), there will be a preliminary stage, which will be some kind of winnowing-out process that involves asking applicants whether they have practised for ten or 12 years, whether they are members of the Law Society of Ireland, whether their names are on the register of practising barristers held by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority or whether they are an Irish citizen. I do not know whether citizenship is needed to be a judge but I presume it is. In any event, basic screening for eligibility-----