David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad that Senator McDowell has clarified matters because the Minister appears to have suggested that the Senator was in favour of some kind of Masonic elite within the legal profession. Senator McDowell has made it clear that this is not the case and it shows how risky it is for anyone, the Minister included, to try to characterise the mindset of a speaker without sufficient evidence.

The Minister also spoke about exceptional circumstances and I completely agree with him on this point. He is right but it is the function of Seanad Éireann to tease out all the hypothetical situations that are possible and to close loopholes. That is precisely what we are doing. The exceptional circumstances to which we referred can be held to exist in certain situations.

I may be misinterpreting the Minister but he never replies when I ask him if I am. Either he thinks I misinterpret him all the time or I am completely right and it is better for him to keep shtum. I understood the Minister to say that the commission could seek further expressions of interest if the three original nominees were rejected by Government.