David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps the Senator is correct. This is most extraordinary and represents a really serious curtailment of freedom of speech. Will the Minister explain precisely what is so dangerous to the Government about allowing it to see the longlist of candidates who have put themselves forward? Where lies the danger to the Government in that? What is the difficulty? I cannot see that there is a difficulty. In fact, under any form or rules of logic, I would say that the more information one has about a situation, the better one's decision-making will be. Constricting the information also constricts the nature of the decision made.

The Minister has also said that senior judges could be on the committee and they would have a very influential role. How does he know that? These meetings have not taken place yet. Some of these senior judges could have an upset stomach or-----