Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----quango and delay the process. The aim of amendment No. 4 in my name is simply to give whoever will be in office after the next general election the opportunity to say if this provision was wise in the first place or the result of the Independent Alliance's insistence on its insertion in the Constitution. That is the only argument I am making. We should give the Oireachtas another chance and it is by no means a threat; rather, it is a hope. I do not believe the Minister will be in a position to commence the Bill in the next six to eight months. It simply cannot be done. Perhaps parts of it might be commenced to start the recruitment process if the Minister had a gun to his head, something I do not believe any other Minister would do. Short of that happening, the commission will not be in operation for another 18 months and there will be a general election before that period elapses. A different Government with different people - it may be the case that many of the same people will be in it - would arrive at a very different view as to whether the current system is superior to what is involved in the Bill and not waste €500,000 a year of taxpayers' money in establishing this quango and not tie itself in knots in holding interviews, having short lists and all the rest. I compliment the Minister, absolutely, unequivocally and genuinely, on his record in bringing to the Cabinet good proposals for appointments to the Bench.