Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is no intent on the part of the Government to endeavour to protect itself in some way by ensuring confidentiality. I do not agree with the Senator. I do not accept at all that the issue is one of protection of the Government. Rather, it is an issue of protecting the candidates themselves.

I want to refer briefly to a point which Senator McDowell has raised again. It is an important point. It is about the architecture, which was to be a senior appointments commission. I do not come back with this on the basis of it having been defeated in the Dáil or otherwise. I come back to this House to attract support for something which, to my mind, meets the issues of concern as raised by Senator McDowell, albeit not in the comprehensive and wide-ranging way he intends. I invite Senator McDowell to agree with me that what was proposed in the Dáil is more desirable than the current framework in the Bill, having regard to the issue of senior appointments raised by Senator Norris. Senator McDowell wishes to have the best and worst of every world, which is his right as a Senator. However, there comes a time when I would ask Senator McDowell to agree that ultimately, if there are parts of this Bill that can be improved upon, that we should do so. I invite Senator McDowell to agree with me on the construct of a form of senior appointments group.

Senator McDowell makes such a play about the State losing out on the expertise and experience of current serving members and future members of the Judiciary, or about people not applying, because they cannot make direct contact with Government in order to inform it of their intentions. In response to that I would point to the content of section 39, which states clearly that any of these members of the Judiciary will be in a position, and will be required, to submit their names to the commission for consideration. This is the means by which the appointments procedure will be undertaken. The fact that they will not be in a position to express an interest to a Minister or publicly should not act to their detriment because they will be encouraged to apply under section 39(1) in the same way as anybody else who wishes to have his or her name considered for appointment.