Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hope I have clearly stated that a process is followed when appointing a judge to any court, not just the Supreme Court. As Minister for Justice, I have adhered to that process. I will outline it again for absolute clarity. I was appointed as Minister for Justice on 27 June. The following day I received briefings from my Department, one of which outlined that there was a vacancy on the Supreme Court. I was asked to fill that as soon as possible. I was also made aware a JAAB recommendation was already in my private office, which alerted me to the fact that the former Attorney General had come through that process. Later that week, in discussion with my colleague, the Tánaiste, I was informed that the former Attorney General had come through that process. I told the Tánaiste I was aware of that and he simply said he believed the former Attorney General would make a good judge. Of course, I took that on board, but at that stage I had not yet received all of the other expressions of interest. I received those in a draft memorandum on 6 July. Following receipt of that, I looked at all expressions of interest, the recommendations of the JAAB and the sitting judges eligible for this position. After several days and two other Cabinet meetings, I spoke to the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Attorney General. I made a recommendation to all four of them. There were no further questions. All four agreed with the recommendation I had made and it was on that basis that a name was presented to the Cabinet, which approved Mr. Séamus Woulfe as a Supreme Court judge.

See this speech in context