Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First, I refute absolutely any suggestion that I instructed the President to do anything of the sort. I understand there was a story in one of the newspapers this morning that is not true and is without foundation. The arrangements made for the appointment of Ms Justice Whelan were made by officials in accordance with the long-standing procedures to confirm three judges, one being Ms Justice Whelan and the others being two judges of the High Court. There was no question of any pressure being placed on the President to make the appointment on a specific date. My only involvement was to indicate availability in my diary to attend the ceremony. As Deputies will know, over the years it has been commonplace for judges to be confirmed by the President, sometimes within days and usually within a week or two.

Ms Justice Whelan is uniquely qualified for the role she now holds. She is a barrister with decades of experience. She was Attorney General for six years across two Governments. She was across some of the most complex cases ever dealt with by any lawyer, including the unwinding of the FEMPI Acts, the legislation required to provide for marriage equality and to deal with the X case, as well as the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill. I do not think there is any controversy about her qualifications for the job she now holds.

There is controversy about the process followed. As I have said, the process is lawful and provided for in the Constitution, specifically Article 13. There are precedents for it and I will go through some of them, if Deputy Micheál Martin so wishes. Correct procedure was followed and all expressions of interest were forwarded to the Minister for Justice and Equality who considered all of them, as well as the possibility of an expression of interest from the Attorney General. The Minister determined that the Attorney General was the stand-out candidate for the post and, therefore, made a nomination of one person to the Cabinet. That is standard practice: if there is one vacancy, there is one nominee and if there are two, there are two. It has never been the case that the Cabinet considers shortlists or lists of six or 12 people who are deemed to be less suitable or unsuitable. It was all done in line with normal procedures.

In terms of precedent, I the attention of Deputy Micheál Martin to some other cases that are not the same but bear similarities. For example, Frank Clarke was appointed to the High Court without going through the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. As barristers, Adrian Hardiman and Donal O'Donnell were appointed directly to the Supreme Court, but they did not have the experience of being Attorney General. They were actually appointed directly to a higher court than the Court of Appeal. Of course, John Murray was appointed to the European Court of Justice, moving from Attorney General to a high position in the European Court of Justice and, to the best of the information we have available, no application process was followed. I do not criticise these appointments. They were all good appointments. The people concerned are all very well qualified, but the appointments all had one thing in common: Deputy Micheál Martin was around the Cabinet table when they were made.

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