I protested before, and I protest again now, on this Estimate for the President's Establishment that this office is not a democratic office. It is confined to two or three people. The Constitution states that a person who wishes to have himself nominated must be nominated by 20 members of the Oireachtas. No man can get those nominations, unless he is sponsored by either the Government Party or the main Opposition Party. Likewise, the Constitution states that a person may be nominated by four county councils. All county councils are dominated by the two main political Parties. Two-thirds of the membership of every county council is constituted of members of the Government and the Opposition and these groups will not allow anyone to be nominated against their own nominees.