Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Exactly. Therefore, the follow-on vacancy in the Supreme Court, on foot of an ordinary judge of that court being appointed as Chief Justice, would be sent out for filling. Is it even in any sense unfair to say it is quite probable that one of the applicants for the ordinary position in the Supreme Court would be a member of the Court of Appeal? Where the Government gets a recommendation and, lo and behold, there is on the shortlist a judge of the Court of Appeal, be it a man or woman, whom it says it want to appoint, the consequence is that, under the Act, it would have to notify the commission of the vacancy that would arise in the Court of Appeal and ask all practitioners and judges interested in the position to submit their applications for it. The decision could not be anticipated. Another couple of months would elapse during this process.

The position in the Court of Appeal would in all likelihood, or with a good deal of likelihood, be filled by a judge of the High Court. The same process would take place to fill the follow-on vacancy that would eventuate in the High Court. The sequence of events, therefore, is that if each step took two or three months, the best part of the year would elapse before the follow-on consequential appointments to fill the vacancies in the courts system would come to be filled. If I am being unfair and the Minister believes these things can be done in a week-----