Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Senator Norris is making his opinions known and there is no disagreement between my two colleagues. We are back to the same thing here which worries me. When I hear a Minister saying that he is confident something will happen or that he is fairly sure that at the end of the day, people will do this, that or the other, I note that unless it is written down in black and white, what one is confident about today means absolutely nothing. In ten or 20 years' time, when people are reviewing this Bill and we find a judicial appointment has been left open for six months because they did not get their act together, nobody is going to turn round and say that the Minister was sure at the time that we would act appropriately or would fill the job at a particular time. There is only one way to have certainty and that is to have in black and white, and everybody knows where they stand from day one. The applicants for the job will know that there is a finite day. Everybody will be aware of the fact that a vacancy has arisen and that it will be filled by a particular day. This sort of come-day, go-day, attitude to the effect that the Minister was sure at the time is a little too lax for me and opens up all sorts of possibilities. I accept the Minster's bona fides; I am just not so sure that those who will come after us will be as diligent or as careful as he is. I ask the Minister to reconsider.