Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to speak on behalf of Sinn Féin on the issues of community safety and crime prevention. However, I will divert my attention for a moment to the issue of the week with which the Minister needs to deal. Members of the Dáil from almost all parties have asked the Minister to come into the Chamber to outline the process she used to make judicial appointments. Yesterday she clarified that she did consider the four names before her and then selected one candidate. Each time we ask about this the Minister, and indeed the Taoiseach, gives us a lecture on the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, JAAB, process. We are all aware that the JAAB selects people who are eligible for consideration but what we need to know is the process the Minister used to make her selection. What process did she use? Which of her colleagues joined or assisted her in that process? We need to know that because without knowing it, the charge is that the Fine Gael credentials of the former Attorney General outweighed or scored higher than the clear judicial experience of the other candidates seeking the nomination. The Minister should come into the Chamber to deal with this matter. It is not enough to reply to me at the end of these statements. She should come to the Chamber at the earliest opportunity, hopefully next week, and deal with the matter. I will leave it at that.

See this speech in context