Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The illumination from Senator McDowell, particularly in regard to amendment No. 2, was helpful. I am minded to support that amendment because of what he said. Moreover, for all the reasons Senator Ward acknowledged, it would make sense to have practitioners who are not members of the Judiciary. That would give a valuable insight and I recognise that. I was not entirely convinced by Senator Ward's earlier contribution, given it may leave the matter open to accusations of a boys' club, a girls' club or whatever the case may be. I am keen to hear what the Minister has to say about these amendments but in particular about amendment No. 2 because a strong argument has been made as to why it would be a sensible approach to have two practitioners on the commission who could give an insight. I do not like the notion of every practitioner knowing every detail about every fellow practitioner in the State. That would be worrying but from an experience perspective, it may prove helpful to the work of the commission.