Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This Bill still offends that and I believe that the Judiciary in Ireland will find that and I believe the objections stated by the European Commission are still valid. What business is it of any group to take upon itself the function of looking at judges of the Court of Appeal, short-listing them and setting them out in order of preference for appointment to be an ordinary member of the Supreme Court? What business is it of theirs? It is the constitutional function of the Government to do this. It is not the constitutional function of anybody else. The Government is entitled to take advice from somebody else but it cannot be corralled into a state of enforced ignorance because the Minister has conceded that the purpose of this Bill is to prevent-----