Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Former Deputy Shane Ross argued for a version of this reform on the basis of transparency and openness.Nothing will be clearer from this as to why anybody became a judge. The unsuccessful candidates will be secret. The one thing we will know is that the Judiciary selected them, and that there were four people there as spectators, watching the process. That is what we will know from now on and we will not know who they rejected or what cliques developed among the Judiciary. We will never know those things again if this becomes law because the four laypeople will not be in a position to effectively control the process and nobody will know why decisions were really made. The formula that is in the section we were just discussing will not enlighten anybody as to why that was done. As far as transparency is concerned, this Bill will enshrine a totally secret process and hand over its operation to people who are completely unaccountable.