Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----but the section 7 approach is based on merit, and in making merit-based decisions, there is a desideratum that there should be a balance between men and women in the Judiciary. However, in this section Senator Bacik is saying that even if the commission comes to the conclusion that three persons of one gender are the best people, it must slam on the brakes, delete one of them and add a person of the other gender. She is going too far. It is not something I could support, and it is not something we should impose on the commission or the Government in such circumstances. It appears that the Senator is taking and pocketing section 7 as an advance and then seeking to overrule it as well, whereby if there were three people of one gender, notwithstanding the fact there should be balance, the lowest of the three would be knocked off and a person of the other gender would be made available for the Government to choose from. That is unfair.

I have sympathy for the proposition that there should be gender equality in judicial appointments, up to the point of not producing a Judiciary that is not the best that we can do. My interpretation of section 7 is that the commission should do its best and give us the best judges, but have regard to gender balance as a desideratum. That is the right solution. However, the Senator is inviting it to go a stage further whereby if a single gender slate turns up, be it women or men, the commission must delete one person and include a person of the opposite gender to the other two to achieve balance. I do not think that is what she believes. If there were three meritorious women, she would be horrified if a man was slapped in just for gender balance.