Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Events of the past few weeks with regard to an appointment to the Supreme Court have put the spotlight very much on the relationship between the Government and Oireachtas and the Judiciary. They have certainly created problems for both and potentially brought both into disrepute. There is no doubt that we need to deal with the issue at hand, in particular the appointment to the Supreme Court, but we also need to see the much-needed and long-promised reform of the relationship between the Oireachtas and the Judiciary. There is no doubt but that the Dáil and the public are entitled to know the process by which an appointment was made to the Supreme Court. Regrettably, the Minister for Justice has refused to outline that process to us and to abide by the long-established tradition where a Minister comes into the House and explains his or her actions to ensure accountability to this House. I am saying to the Taoiseach, respectfully, that he needs to ensure that his Minister for Justice abides by that tradition of being accountable to the House. It is a requirement of a Minister and a requirement of the Taoiseach that he ensure that that opportunity is provided to Members of this House. We have to end the charade of the Minister talking about coming in and answering questions under the regular arrangements for oral questions. That just does not wash. It is not acceptable by any standards and the Taoiseach needs to end that charade.

We need to have a full explanation as to the criteria or the matrix that were used in identifying why one person was appointed to the Supreme Court as opposed to the other three candidates who had applied. I stress that I am talking about the process, not the merits of one individual over another. We also need an explanation of the reason the Minister did not inform other party leaders within the coalition about the existence of those other candidates.

The question which then arises is whether, in the absence of information about potential candidates, the Cabinet was actually capable of exercising collective responsibility under the Constitution. The other issue that we need an explanation in respect of is why there was a 12-month delay in filling a vacancy on the Supreme Court which first arose in June 2019. For all of those reasons, I ask the Taoiseach to respect this House and arrange for the Minister to come in and take questions in the normal manner.

See this speech in context