Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It could be an exercise of simple patronage. Likewise, if the president of the Law Society is to be given the right to make a nomination without the council of the Law Society at the very least agreeing to the proposal, there would be a problem. It appears that sections 19(1)(f) and 19(1)(g) differentiate between somebody nominated by the Law Society as such and somebody nominated by the chairperson of the Bar Council. It should be a corporate nomination in both cases. The Minister should consider simply saying that the general council of the Bar of Ireland shall nominate a practising barrister to be a member of the commission, that the Law Society of Ireland shall nominate a practising solicitor to be a member of the commission, and that the Minister shall appoint each of the persons nominated under those subsections to be members of the commission. That would at least be much more consistent. The incongruity in sections 19(1)(f) and 19(1)(g) would be avoided.