Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I can sense from my dealings with the good Minister that his heart is not in this legislation, nor are the hearts of the majority of members of his party. It is very concerning that the Government is pressing ahead with this ill-advised legislation.

Section 36 of the GRECO report states:

GRECOtakes the view that the Judicial Appointments Bill as far as the composition of the appointments commission is concerned needs to reflect European standards, aiming at securing judicial independence through substantial judicial representation in relation to the overall composition of the proposed commission. The controversial Bill [Even the report states "controversial Bill".], which has been subject to some amendments in this respect, is still under debate in Parliament, subject to critical media attention, and has been heavily criticised by the judiciary on grounds that GRECO assesses to be reasonable. GRECO urges the authorities to re-consider this matter in order to limit potential risks of improper influence from the executive/political power over the appointment process to the judiciary, or any perception thereof, and to do so in close co-operation with the judicial authorities.

It is clear that this has not been addressed by the Minister for Justice and Equality or by the Government.

Senator Norris made clear reference to the statements uttered by Deputy Ó Snodaigh in relation to the anti-republican bias of some judges, and who hoped this would not be the position going forward. That clearly outlines the position that GRECO is trying to avoid, and that the Government is allowing to proceed. I am very open to diversity in both branches of the legal profession and the Judiciary. However, this Bill goes nowhere to solve those problems. As I outlined last week when I spoke on the Bill, it is very hard for people of diverse backgrounds to get into the legal profession, and to be in the position to become judges. I asked the Minister to work with Members of this House who are very concerned about the diversity of the legal profession. I would like him to address that point in his response.

The GRECO report states:

40. The Government of Ireland maintains its position that the establishment of the Public Service Pay Commission is relevant for this recommendation, in the light of Article 35 of the Constitution, which provides for judicial independence and safeguards around remuneration and that in this context there is no provision to provide separate structural pay determination arrangements for the judiciary.

41. The representatives of the judiciary ... take issue with this position as this recommendation extends beyond the question of pay determination arrangements to issues which have direct impact on judicial independence, integrity and quality.

I do not know how any House of this Oireachtas, the Minister or his Government can stand over this. It is outrageous.

In the conclusions of the GRECO report, point 52 states that in view of the foregoing, GRECO concludes that Ireland has still implemented satisfactorily, or dealt with in a satisfactory manner, only three of the 11 recommendations contained in the fourth round evaluation report. How can we continue with this? Surely the independence of the Judiciary is a cornerstone of our democratic process and judicial process, and of everything that Ireland has been very proud to stand for since the foundation of our State. It is outrageous that this has not been addressed significantly. It is political pressure coming from one individual who has issues with the legal profession and the Judiciary, outside his own remit. The Government is hanging onto power and allowing this disgraceful piece of legislation to pass because of its hunger for power. I want the Minister to say to this House that he is happy with this. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil group, we are very disappointed. We would be willing to work with the Minister if we felt this was correcting some of the much-needed reforms, but it does not do anything in that regard. It does not help diversity within the legal profession or the Judiciary.