Adequate structures should be put in place to ensure "errant judges" are called to account, the Fine Gael TD, Mr Gay Mitchell, told the Parnell Summer School in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, yesterday.
Mr Mitchell said he was not suggesting that independence in judicial action should be interfered with.
"I am suggesting that judges are as capable of wandering from the path of righteousness as the rest of us and that there should be procedures in place to ensure that, where this happens, offending judges can be called to account.
"The explosion in the role of the judiciary, with the concomitant inflow of funds to lawyers, is now giving rise to concern and recent critical examination of the behaviour of judges has shown that a small number of judges, just like a small number of ministers and TDs, are capable of actions which are inconsistent with the office they hold."
Mr Conor Lenihan TD (FF) said the lessons from recent controversies were simple but very important.
The DIRT inquiry into the banks proved beyond doubt the need for a much-improved system of parliamentary accountability and inquiry. Ms Roisin Shortall TD (Labour) said the link between business and politics should be broken.
The only way that could be done was by State funding of politics, as that would ensure the electorate was calling the tune.
Prof Michael Laver, of Trinity College Dublin, said we had not much of a local democracy. While we voted for local councils, they didn't have a real impact on important policy.
We also had little input into much of what was handed down by the EU, and nobody was held accountable for this, he said.