Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I hope I will have no difficulty in persuading the Minister that amendment 86d is absolutely unacceptable. It states:

In page 28, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:"Disclosure of identity of persons eligible for appointment to judicial office

41.Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 27and 28, nothing in this Act renders it unlawful for the Attorney General to inform members of the Government of the identity of persons who are eligible for appointment to any judicial office and who have indicated a willingness to be appointed to such office by the President on the advice of the Government, including persons who have applied to the Commission for recommendation for appointment but who have not been recommended by the Commission for such appointment.".

Sections 27 and 29 deal with confidentiality. If this amendment is not accepted the Bill will be manifestly unconstitutional. If the Attorney General must sit on this body and see people being rejected time after time or being passed over in favour of other people and he or she is prohibited from telling the Cabinet that Ms Justice Bloggs has applied four times and has never featured on a shortlist selected by the commission then the Bill is, on yet another ground, manifestly unconstitutional. This, combined with the rejection of the previous amendment, would be a real canary in the coal mine. If we cannot have acceptance of these amendments we know precisely what we are dealing with, which is an onslaught on the prerogatives of the Executive under the Constitution.