Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As I indicated to the Deputy on the previous occasion we discussed the matter, I welcome his contribution to this important issue and will have regard to his Private Members' Bill in the context of my Department's review of the judicial appointments process. I have read his Bill very carefully and I appreciate the contribution he is making to this process. If his party wishes to progress the Bill in its own Members' time, it is entitled to do so and will receive full consideration in the House. I suggest that if he does so it is in the context of us debating the issues transparently. A number of matters arising in the Bill are a cause of difficulty and it might well be that we need more radical reform.

As the Deputy is aware, under the Constitution judges are appointed by the President on the advice of the Government. Since 1995, the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board has submitted to the Minister for Justice and Equality the names of persons recommended for appointment. This system has operated under successive Governments since that time.

With a view to ensuring the most up-to-date practice, particularly by reference to other jurisdictions, I have asked my officials, as I advised the Deputy previously, to conduct an examination of the current procedure. While any proposal to revise the current system of judicial appointments would, of course, be a matter for consideration by Government, I hope that we can achieve a wider consensus on reform.

Our independent Judiciary has served the country extremely well, and it is vital that the public maintains full confidence in that independence at all levels within our court structure. I simply do not accept the implication in the question that no lawyer, be it a solicitor or a barrister, who engages in democratic politics should ever be appointed to the Judiciary, that any such engagement should render an individual ineligible for judicial appointment, and that such engagement in some way contaminates their future capacity to act with judicial independence in cases before the courts. It is clear from the conduct of our Judiciary since the foundation of the State that members of the Judiciary, at all levels within our courts system, have acted with independence and that no party-political bias is manifested in decisions made and judgments delivered.

See this speech in context