Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 157:

In page 34, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:

“Notice of appointment to be published

50.(1) Notice of an appointment to judicial office shall be published in Iris Oifigiúil and the notice shall, if it be the case, include a statement that the name of the person was—(a) recommended by the relevant committee to the Minister in accordance with the provisions of this Act, or

(b) recommended to the Government under section 46,as the case may be.

(2) In the event that a person appointed to judicial office has not been recommended by the Commission under this Act, the notice of that appointment published in Iris Oifigiúil shall include a reasoned written explanation of the decision of the Government not to nominate a candidate recommended by the Commission.

(3) In publishing the reasoned written decision in accordance with subsection (2), the persons recommended by the Commission shall not be identified.”.

For the benefit of the committee and how we do our business, there are many amendments dealing with removing the relevant committee and general tidying up. I tried to identify those necessary to preserve the procedures committee, which I think is a decision we agreed. Amendment No. 162 relates to that. I will try to indicate those amendments I will be opposing and those I will be supporting as I go on.

In respect of amendment Nos. 157 and 160, which are related, these are amendments proposed by Dr. Patrick O'Brien, who was referred to in previous sessions. We have had a debate recently about the Government requiring, or at least the perception that it requires, discretion in relation to appointments. I refer to the conflict between that and the desire to have a fully transparent process with the judicial appointments commission making as much of the decision as possible.

Where the person appointed to judicial office is not a person who was recommended by the judicial appointments commission, amendment No. 157 requires that a reasoned written decision would be published in Iris Oifigúil explaining the reason for that person's appointment outside of the judicial appointments commission process. Similarly, amendment No. 160 relates to the placing of a statement before the Houses of the Oireachtas within 30 days of that appointment giving a written decision as to why a person was appointed who was not nominated by the commission. There is clear and obvious sense to it. Whatever the arguments about constitutionality, if the committee accepts the case that the Government must have a greater degree of discretion than the judicial appointment commission provides to it, then in the exceptionally rare circumstances that people would be appointed outside this process the Oireachtas and the public deserve to have an understanding as to why this was the case. This provides for that.