Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

Very serious allegations have been made by Senators O'Donovan and Mullen about the provenance of this legislation. I will not rehearse the details but in light of these allegations it is within the gift of the Minister and Leader to withdraw the legislation rather than put it to a vote. The saying, "justice must be done and seen to be done", has long been applied to the courts system. Justice is not being seen to be done in this legislation about which a serious allegation has been made, namely, that it has been drafted to benefit one individual. It is not appropriate for Seanad Éireann to be engaged in this type of legislation. If we were criminalising one individual, the legislation would be known as a Bill of attainder and would be clearly unconstitutional. It is also clearly unconstitutional, wrong and inappropriate to produce legislation to benefit one individual. I do not know whether the Minister is in on this, as it were, or has been subject to lobbying or whether officials in the Department have been the subject of lobbying. The full story must come out before this legislation goes further.

The serious allegations that have been made include one that an individual was to be appointed last year to the position of judge and serious statements were made in a letter, which is, I presume, in the possession of the Department, questioning the qualifications of the person in question for the job. Lo and behold, almost 12 months later, a Bill has been produced which covers the defect in law as regards the appointment of the individual concerned. If Senators are involved in such a process, it would be unacceptable, inappropriate and a sad day for the Seanad.

The allegations that have been made include that lobbying was carried out by a representative organisation. This is highly significant in the context of an appointment because a representative organisation may represent some of those who may come before the military judge. Legal opinion was given and suggestions have been made that a Fine Gael Party Deputy was in receipt of representations on this issue. I do not know if such representations were passed on to the Minister.

The Minister's word is his bond but it has been shown recently to be flawed. He came before the Seanad and failed to mention a letter he had received from Mr. Justice Smithwick in which the judge made much more serious allegations about the conduct of the Minister and Government than I had made in the House. The Minister described my contribution on the issue, which was less serious than the allegations made by Mr. Justice Smithwick, as gross and exaggerated.

I will not rehearse the statements made in the eloquent contributions we have heard, particularly from Senators O'Donovan and Mullen. I ask the Minister to please withdraw the Bill while a serious cloud hangs over it. It is not appropriate that legislation on which one person is waiting should be passed as a public Bill of the Oireachtas. If it is to legislate for a private matter, the Bill should be introduced as private legislation. As Senator O'Donovan stated, an alternative is available in this instance.

There is more than one practising barrister with the experience necessary for the Defence Forces position in question. I understand five individuals have eight years' experience. Therein lies the solution.

As a solicitor who has not practised since being first elected to Dáil Éireann in 2007, I may not be qualified to apply for a judicial position as I would have a length of service disqualification. I do not propose that the Minister change the position in this regard to suit me or others as it would be highly inappropriate to do so. I hope he will address rather than dismiss the serious concerns expressed by Senators. If he has been misinformed or is under-informed, he has an opportunity to withdraw the legislation and bring it before the House again when it is ready.