Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government can accept a recommendation and convey that to the Head of State or it can be at liberty to reject any or all of the names.

I note the point raised by Senator McDowell as to what happens in the event of all the names being rejected. It will then be a matter for the commission to take stock and seek further expressions of interest, if that is what it wishes to do. The commission will, in essence, be independent of Government. I do not want to build in something at this stage which will have the effect of potentially undermining the three-name recommendation. It will only be in exceptional circumstances that the recommendation of the commission will not be accepted by Government and I point to the history of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, JAAB, in that regard. I cannot think of any case where Government decided to ignore, in its entirety, the recommended list of names from the JAAB.

Of course, I acknowledge the expertise of Senator McDowell, as a former Attorney General, but I am speaking as a Member of Parliament of many years' standing, a member of Government for a number of years and a Minister for Justice and Equality in recent times. I do not think that there is evidence to show that, over the years, Government has acted in that manner. While, of course, the constitutional prerogative of Government is retained in its entirety, I would expect that serious consideration would be given to the recommended names in accordance with the law. This is where I differ from Senator McDowell and I see a deep-seated hostility and antipathy from him towards a commission that has a non-legal involvement. Senator McDowell adverted to a situation whereby a judicial wizard will be left languishing on the Bench-----