Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

If he did not know about the appointment and he was sitting there in Cabinet, why did he not say "No"? Why did he not stop it if he is so concerned about the judicial appointments process? If he did know, that is even worse. We need an answer in that regard.

Why was the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, not informed? Is that the standard operating procedure of the Government, namely, that the minority members of the coalition are not kept in the loop? From my experience, Cabinet confidentiality and collective responsibility cannot work in such circumstances. That is one of the political failings that has been exposed in this entire process. We need answers to what are perfectly valid questions. This statement does no justice to the power we need to keep, as a democratic assembly, to appoint judges. We deserve to hold on to that power but not if we pretend that due process was followed in this case. To my mind, it goes completely against the process. The decision two or three weeks earlier to appoint as judges people who, as Deputy O'Callaghan said, had not even come to the end of their terms yet calls into question Fine Gael's approach to this whole matter. What has gone on is a disgrace.

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