Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government and I continue to be committed to progressing that legislation as speedily as possible. While it has been regarded by Governments, including the previous Fianna Fáil Government, as a priority, over time it gave way to other pressing and urgent legislative requirements, some of which arose from our troika commitments and some of which concerned important social and societal issues, such as the establishment of the Court of Appeal and last year's marriage referendum, as well as the other 15 pieces of legislation I introduced during the course of the last Government. I assure the Deputy that work on the Bill is very advanced and I look forward to its contents being debated by the Oireachtas. I hope it will be possible to begin that debate early in 2017 and that we will be in a position to publish the legislation before the end of the year.

The Deputy will recall that the current legislative programme includes the judicial council Bill on the A list. Work on the drafting of the Bill is continuing in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General. My Department is working closely with that office and I had a meeting a few days ago on the continuation of that drafting work.

The Government is firmly of the view that it is necessary to provide a platform for the promotion of excellence and high standards of conduct by judges. I believe we in Ireland have been particularly well served by the Judiciary down through the decades, and this has been recognised internationally. As the Deputy is aware, the Judiciary supports the establishment of the judicial council, which is also a priority for me. We are very close to completion of the draft and will hopefully be in a position to undertake further consultation and then publish the Bill.

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