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

Let us be very clear. This legislation will be published shortly. The Government is committed to it and, as the Deputy said, the Judiciary wants to see a judicial council. There are issues that can be dealt with in terms of the performance of judges and continuing the work judges do to make sure they have a judicial council that will be a support to that work. As I said, we have made it clear we are committed to publishing this legislation. There are reasons it was delayed, primarily due to other priorities and the scale of the work that is done within the Department of Justice and Equality and the various priorities which emerged in the course of the last year or so. We are committed to it and it is certainly an important part of the architecture in regard to the Judiciary that needs to be brought forward.

See this speech in context