Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Vacancies must be filled and appointments must be made. I do not believe they can be left to a circular process of quarterly meetings. I am not sure if I can accept the premise that we have a commission sent into a loop of re-runs in an attempt to fill a vacancy. Parallel to that, we have the important prerogative of the Government to select a candidate for appointment by the President. I am not going to re-run the constitutional arguments but vacancies must be filled, appointments made and the courts need to have their business transacted. Any element of doubt or reversion to quarterly meetings which might not be in a position to produce a result is, at best, uncertain and, at worst, very damaging.