Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It will come as no surprise to Senators that I do not intend to side with them on the amendments. This issue was the subject matter of endless hours of debate not only here in this House in the presence of the current group of Senators who now propose amendments but also in the wider Oireachtas. I made it clear then and I make it clear now that the shape and form of the Bill as originally drafted included specific reference to a desire on the part of the Government to ensure there would be a lay majority and a lay chair who are not persons with judicial experience and not persons who are members of the Bar or the Law Society but laypersons in the sense of being non-judicial figures or non-lawyer figures. I do not intend departing from this.

I am not sure whether Senator Noone said she was going to vote for the proposal or not. That would represent something of a new departure in the legislation.