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

We all know we must get some facts out, including that Séamus Woulfe was a long-time Fine Gael party activist. That has not been disputed by the Minister or anybody else. He sat around the Fine Gael Cabinet table for four years. The Minister took up her role on 27 June. She got a list of four names on 6 July, including candidates with long judicial experience. In record time, a matter of days, the Minister whittled that list of four names down to one and that single name went off to the Cabinet.

The Minister said nothing really about how that process worked. She cannot seriously think that people believe this yarn that a process was followed here. Nobody believes that. Does the Minister seriously believe that people believe the yarn that this was not a Fine Gael political stitch-up? That is plainly not the reality. The Minister must stop fooling people and recognise and admit that there was no process and no evaluation because she has not outlined one, and there could not have been one. The Minister needs to admit that to her colleagues in this Chamber.

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