Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

They could be garage men or taxi drivers - we have no idea who is eligible to be appointed. Their function is to advise and assist the commission in its consideration of applicants at a preliminary stage in the course of the selection procedures. I do not understand how that can function. If there is a competition for the appointment of a High Court judge, the commission can get KPMG, Arthur Cox or Michael McDowell SC to give it a quick run over, to advise and assist it in its consideration of applicants at a preliminary stage in the course of the selection procedures and to provide an evaluation or an assessment of an applicant’s suitability for appointment that would assist the commission in making any decision in the course of carrying out those procedures. Some other outside body or person can, as long as the Minister consents to the appointment of that body or person, prepare scoping reports saying such a person is a good person while another is not a good person, or say the latter should not go to the second stage and is not even worth an interview. Why should we have this privatised out to non-commissioned staff? Why should the commission be allowed to delegate this function to anybody else? Is it intended that the commission become some form of rubber stamp for other people's opinions? If the commission goes through 50 applications for the appointment of a District Court judge, is it really intended that some outside body should be able to say it has gone through them all and believes, for example, that eight specified people merit a further interview?Where is the independence in all that? Who are these people, these consultants? Are they supposed to be independent? Where is the evidence of inclusivity and diversity? One does not have to be a diverse member of some particular agency, corporate body or recruitment agency to carry out all these functions. Are we talking about recruitment agencies? How could a recruitment agency possibly state one person was suitable to be a District Court judge while another was not, unless the person appeared from his or her application form to be utterly illiterate or-----