John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I, too, want to be associated with the expressions of good will to the Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, on his new appointment. He is a man of great experience. He is well suited to his new role in which I wish him well. On that note, he must sit uneasily with this legislation that has been put before him, given the background and history of the Minister who is pushing it in Cabinet. It must sit uneasily with a man of the Minister's experience. If the issues highlighted by Fianna Fáil are not of concern to him - I will revert to them shortly - he must surely be concerned about those who are supporting the Bill. Those in the ranks of Sinn Féin are pushing the Bill and supporting the Minister on it. That must sit very uneasily with him. If that is not enough to point out that the Bill is seriously flawed, I do not what is. We in Fianna Fáil believe there is a need to reform the judicial appointments process. However, the Bill is flawed. I do not want to repeat what has been said, but not having the Chief Justice as chairperson of the commission does not make any sense. This is poor, flawed legislation and I ask the Minister to examine it closely and amend it. Also, it is farcical that the Presidents of the District Court and the Circuit Court will not be members of the commission.

On recommending three people but not pushing forward one over another, in any job for which someone applies there is always a preferred candidate. That is the way it should be because it works. This proposal is unworkable.

Without wishing to rehash everything that has been said by my colleagues in the past few hours, I ask the Minister, as a man of integrity and experience, to seriously examine the issues we have pointed out to him and look at the people who are supporting him on this legislation, their record on the judicial system and the way they have disrespected it for many years. He should bring forward the necessary amendments to make the Bill workable and worthwhile because in its current format it is not workable or worthwhile.

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