Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I hope I will be afforded extra time at the end. The changing face of the profession needs to be addressed. We have people from all sorts of backgrounds living in Ireland and it not just about being male, stale and beyond the Pale any more. The majority of members of the legal profession are female but the problem is they are not progressing to senior positions or on to the Bench. Perhaps that should be looked at. I have heard much about merit but surely women have equal merit in this regard. As we are not progressing in the profession, the Minister should address the problem.

As the Bill stands, the commission would provide three names to the Government for appointment. Under the provisions of the Bill it will remain open to the Government to reject names proposed by the new commission. Fianna Fáil believes the Government should be obliged to provide a reasoned explanation for that rejection. Otherwise, it is too easy for the Government to go outside the process and sidestep the recommendations. If the number of people on the commission is increased to 17 members, as is sought by the Government, it will be totally unwieldy. It should be borne in mind that the body is expected to fill approximately eight to ten judicial vacancies per annum.

The Bill passed through the Dáil because of a deal done with Sinn Féin and the manner in which it passed was a total farce. The Bill is riddled with inconsistencies and even within the ranks of Fine Gael there is deep unease about the damage this Bill will do to the justice system and the reasons for and manner in which it is being pushed through the House.

On 7 March 2018, the European Commission published a country report on Ireland in which it expressed concern about this Bill, saying it is not in line with European standards. The criticism centred on the fact that the Bill provides for insufficient input from the Judiciary on the commission and does not conform to standards that Ireland signed up to in 2010. The report indicates, "The European Commission is watching closely the relationship that exists between national governments and their judiciaries and monitoring any steps by governments that may undermine or damage the independence of the judiciary within a member State." The reputational damage for Ireland would be significant if it is found that our judicial appointments regime is not in line with European standards. It is shocking that the Government is continuing to support this utterly flawed piece of legislation.