Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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27. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when a judicial council will be established; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35148/16]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The need to establish a judicial council is once again back on the news agenda. This issue goes back as far as 2010, when the former Fianna Fáil Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, published a scheme for a judicial council Bill. When will the current Minister's Bill in respect of a judicial council be published and when is it likely to be available?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Government and I continue to be committed to progressing that legislation as speedily as possible. While it has been regarded by Governments, including the previous Fianna Fáil Government, as a priority, over time it gave way to other pressing and urgent legislative requirements, some of which arose from our troika commitments and some of which concerned important social and societal issues, such as the establishment of the Court of Appeal and last year's marriage referendum, as well as the other 15 pieces of legislation I introduced during the course of the last Government. I assure the Deputy that work on the Bill is very advanced and I look forward to its contents being debated by the Oireachtas. I hope it will be possible to begin that debate early in 2017 and that we will be in a position to publish the legislation before the end of the year.

The Deputy will recall that the current legislative programme includes the judicial council Bill on the A list. Work on the drafting of the Bill is continuing in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General. My Department is working closely with that office and I had a meeting a few days ago on the continuation of that drafting work.

The Government is firmly of the view that it is necessary to provide a platform for the promotion of excellence and high standards of conduct by judges. I believe we in Ireland have been particularly well served by the Judiciary down through the decades, and this has been recognised internationally. As the Deputy is aware, the Judiciary supports the establishment of the judicial council, which is also a priority for me. We are very close to completion of the draft and will hopefully be in a position to undertake further consultation and then publish the Bill.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I was slightly unsure as to whether I should be asking the Minister for Justice and Equality questions about judicial matters because it appears the Government has transferred all responsibility for judicial issues over to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and its Minister. Yesterday we had the extraordinary spectacle of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport on the national airwaves, giving a rolling interview not in respect of CIE or Irish Rail, but in respect of his call for a judicial council. Everyone is in favour of the establishment of a judicial council yet the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport made it sound like this was some great new reforming idea he had come up with. The judges are looking for it, Fianna Fáil is looking for it and everyone in this House is looking for it.

What we should not allow to pass is that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, on behalf of the Government, goes out into the public domain and tells the public at large that some judges may need to be reminded of their oath. I would like the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, to clarify for the Irish public that it is not the view of the Government that members of the Judiciary need to be reminded of their oath. They take their oath very seriously. The hidden message from the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport was that we cannot trust a lot of these people and that is why we need to regulate them on a statutory basis.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Let me reassure the Deputy I continue to work on all of the issues of relevance that are central to the Department of Justice and Equality. I have already said I believe this country has been very well served by the Judiciary and that has been recognised internationally in GRECO report after GRECO report. It is my own belief and it is certainly the belief of the Government that we have been well served by the Judiciary.

Clearly, there are developments that need to be put in place and that is recognised in the programme for Government, in which a central element relates to reforms in the appointment of judges. Every system needs a review and needs reform, which is precisely what we are saying needs to be done. Some changes are necessary and I believe they will be welcomed by everyone when we get down to the detail. As the Deputy said, there is and has been widespread support from the Judiciary, from the members of the Government and from the Deputy's party in regard to bringing forward the legislation on the judicial council. It is a widely shared goal and one I hope we will be in a position to deal with very shortly by publishing the legislation.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I have grounds for scepticism about the commitments given by the Government in respect of the establishment of a judicial council. The Fine Gael-Labour Party programme for Government published back in 2011 contained a commitment to establish a judicial council but, five years on, it has not been established.

The important message to be put out is that while, of course, there will be a requirement for judges at times to be disciplined and situations where judges step beyond the mark and need to be told they have stepped beyond it, that is a function that needs to be performed outside this House by the judges themselves. This is why we need the establishment of a judicial council. The establishment of such a council will be for the benefit of the Judiciary and it will also be for the benefit of the Irish public. If we allow a situation to persist where the Government is drifting on the establishment of a judicial council, while at the same time some members of the Government are in the public domain saying that these guys need to be regulated and presenting it as if they do not want to be regulated, it is a dangerous combination for our judicial system. That is why we need immediate action in this respect.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Let us be very clear. This legislation will be published shortly. The Government is committed to it and, as the Deputy said, the Judiciary wants to see a judicial council. There are issues that can be dealt with in terms of the performance of judges and continuing the work judges do to make sure they have a judicial council that will be a support to that work. As I said, we have made it clear we are committed to publishing this legislation. There are reasons it was delayed, primarily due to other priorities and the scale of the work that is done within the Department of Justice and Equality and the various priorities which emerged in the course of the last year or so. We are committed to it and it is certainly an important part of the architecture in regard to the Judiciary that needs to be brought forward.