Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The legislation clearly indicates "the Minister shall convene a meeting of the following persons" - the Chief Justice, the chairperson and the Attorney General - and "those persons, so convened, shall be known as the Senior Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee". I am not clear on that. The Minister's role is still there, although the Minister has argued it is not.

The question of whether the position is vacant is a side argument. It is a question of whether the commission or this committee evaluates it. The points have been made. We are setting up a commission; of course it should have this job.