Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not fundamentally disagree with Senator Bacik. She will be aware from other legislation and across a range of bodies to which the Bar Council and the Law Society are asked to provide members, where members will sit on those bodies as representatives of those organisations. I have not heard it said that persons sitting on any State board representing either the Bar Council or the Law Society are there in their capacity as representatives of the chairperson of the Bar Council or the president of the Law Society. Rather, they are there as representatives of the bodies themselves and not the person who acts as chairperson or president. That said, I take the Senator's point about consistency in language. If there is an issue in that regard, I am happy to look at it again but I cannot see how there can be any element of confusion or uncertainty about the fact that the person is sitting on the commission or a subcommittee thereof in any capacity other than as a representative of the relevant body rather than the body's chairperson or president.