Dr. Laura Cahillane:

On the point about judicial discipline and removal, we have not been speaking about that issue today, but it is another that needs to be looked at. We have been promised legislation in this regard for many years and were promised it again last year. In 2011 the heads of a Bill on a judicial council were published. That Bill would deal with issues surrounding judicial discipline and removal, but so far as I am aware, there has been nothing further since. A comprehensive review was carried out by Mrs. Justice Susan Denham around the year 2000 which provided a good basis for legislation on the issue. These are issues which have been researched extensively, including sanctions around judicial conduct, issues around the removal of judges, as well as lesser sanctions which could be invoked. There is no lesser sanction for a higher judge, but there are various informal sanctions for District and Circuit Court judges. This is an issue at which, perhaps, the Oireachtas might look.