David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand he has come here today from Cork to be with us, which is very much appreciated.

Amendments Nos. 97a to 97c, inclusive, would have inserted the most obvious requirement - experience - and I am sorry that they have not been accepted by the Minister. I do not know how he can suggest experience is not a necessary attribute a candidate for judicial office must hold.Of course, if the Minister, Deputy Ross, had his way, who should hold judicial office would be decided by a public ballot or readership poll in the Sunday Independent. The absence of experience as a criterion is symbolic of the overriding objective of the Bill - to cleanse the judicial appointments process of any semblance of achieving quality among the Judiciary. The Bill is driven by a petty desire, based on raw emotion, to corrosively damage an institution that most of the country believes has served the State well. The Minister has, in fact, said the judges who have been appointed under the system are all decent and well regarded. What defence can he possibly have in refusing these minuscule amendments which seek to ensure that, at the very least, there would be trinkets of light and that experience would actually matter when it came to deciding who should serve in what is arguably the most important position in the State? That is the only comment I want to make on the section.