Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin supports the Bill and will support a "Yes" vote in the referendum. When one considers the pressures on the Supreme Court at present the Bill is necessary. A total of 605 cases were appealed to the Supreme Court last year, which is a 21% increase on the year before. It issued judgments in 121 cases compared to 64 judgments issued by the US Supreme Court and 85 judgments issued by the supreme court in London. When one considers the respective population sizes this is not sustainable and must change.

We know from international best practice that if the Supreme Court is clogged up with appeals it is not able to focus on one of its most important functions, which is being a check on the Executive, examining the constitutionality of legislation, interpreting the Constitution and fulfilling its crucial independent role in our State and democracy. I hope this will free up the Supreme Court. There will be ten judges, which we also welcome, who will be led by the Chief Justice.

Arguably this is a very exciting development in terms of the potential of the Supreme Court to move to the next level but there is a little concern. I appreciate when we have discussions about judicial appointments that the Minister is rightly determined to defend the integrity of the Judiciary and to demonstrate it is independent. As I have stated previously, the eight Supreme Court judges are people of impeccable qualification and capacity, and arguably the most talented group we have had in the history of the State. Earlier today when discussing the Legal Services Regulation Bill a point was made with regard to perception, and there is a perception that political appointments are not truly independent. Particularly in terms of the Supreme Court we need to see judges who are really independent of thought and have no fear whatsoever of challenging the Government and holding it to account, and clarifying matters of legal importance.

I read an interesting article earlier this week which expressed concern. The bulk, if not all, appointments to the Supreme Court are from the High Court and therefore we can see their track record in terms of challenging the Government, and now we have freed up the Supreme Court to have this badly need space to fulfil one of its primary roles and to begin to be more creative and imaginative in terms of challenging the Government we also need to ensure a good balance in how it is made up. Irish society comprises people who are liberal and conservative and come from various backgrounds. We need a Judiciary, particularly at Supreme Court level, which is representative of the various perspectives in Irish society in terms of the decisions it makes.

We will continue to debate this issue. I know the Minister is examining judicial appointments and I hope before the end of term to see legislation, which will have to be brought by the Minister, which will ensure judicial appointments are entirely independent of the Government. There is no question whatsoever about the independence of the Judiciary and it can fulfil its very critical role in our democracy.

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