David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have never heard of this business of reverse canvassing. Could the Minister confirm that this is a peculiar coinage of his own?If not, could he give us a standard dictionary definition of it because if the Minister does not accept this amendment, it seems to me it is one of the areas where this Bill may be impugned for a lack of constitutionality? I would be glad if President Michael D. Higgins saw fit to return this Bill to the Supreme Court to adjudicate on its constitutionality. The nonsense that we cannot communicate with people, all these secrets and everything else is political correctness gone mad.

This is a slight diversion but I want to put it on the record. I refer to all the stuff one has to have and all the nonsense and officialdom. I have had an account in the Bank of Ireland head office for 72 years, since I was two. I wanted to change one account from a deposit account to an account with a cheque book. They wrote back to me asking for my passport and a utility bill. I do not know if they wanted my fingerprints, but it is absolute nonsense. We should put a stop to bureaucracy as much as we can.

On the free flow of information, I have made this point before but I will make it again because I insist upon it. If we are looking for good decisions in government, it is our responsibility as legislators to allow for the provision of the greatest possible volume of information and the freest possible flow of information between Government and people who want to put themselves forward for judicial appointment. I believe, and I will come back to this again, the phrase "reverse canvassing" is a piece of mischievous idiocy on the part of the Minister. I think he is gullying us and tempting us with reverse canvassing but perhaps he will tell us if this is a felicitous invention of his own or has it ever occurred anywhere in the known or unknown universes before he emitted the phrase in Seanad Éireann.