Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 17 relates to a member of the commission ceasing to hold judicial office. Amendments Nos. 53 to 56, inclusive, are identical to the amendments tabled on Report Stage in the Dáil. The numbering is coincidental in the series of amendments that at the time the Ceann Comhaire ruled could not be moved for procedural reasons. Amendments Nos. 54 to 56, inclusive, as they appear before us, are consequential on the addition, as members of the commission, of the President of the Circuit Court and the President of the District Court and extend the standard provisions relating to cessation of judicial office and replacement to the two presidents. Section 17 will provide that when the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal, the President of the High Court, the President of the Circuit Court or the President of the District Court ceases to hold such office, their membership of the commission shall also cease. Amendment No. 54 ensures all five posts are covered by these requirements.

Amendment No. 55 adds two new subsections to section 17 and, in effect, replicates for the President of the Circuit Court and the President of the District Court the replacement arrangements in the case of cessation of office. In respect of each of the five courts, therefore, the most senior or ordinary judge will replace the president until such time as a successor in that judicial office is appointed.

Amendments Nos. 54 and 55, taken together, provide in a more consistent way, with the existing subsections (2) to (4), inclusive, for the arrangements needed under section 17. Undoubtedly, as it is an improved drafting, subsections (5) to (8), inclusive, are no longer necessary and amendment No. 56 merely deletes them.