Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 13, line 12, after “office,” to insert the following: “ensuring that recommendations in the case of no fewer than 20 per cent of judicial offices, and 100 per cent in the case of appointments to the Supreme Court, in a given year, the nominees shall be exclusively drawn from candidates who are competent to read and understand the Constitution and matters of law in both official languages”.

When the recommendations or obligations under the Act are implemented by 2030, there will be a requirement that 20% of all public servants be competent to deal with members of the public in Gaeltacht areas and people who speak Irish throughout the State. As judges are also public servants, this amendment requires that at least 20% of judicial offices and 100% for the Supreme Court, which has the obligation to interpret the Constitution, the Irish-language version of which takes priority, would be able to read and understand the Constitution and matters of law in official languages. It is simply a quota for judges and a requirement for the Supreme Court that justices are competent in both languages.