Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Rightly so. However, when it comes to the Judiciary, it is not the case that the Minister should be asking judges to self-assess for the purpose of being promoted to the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court.It is a waste of their time and an invidious thing for them to be invited to do on a constant basis, especially when this awful Bill will mean they will not even be told if they have been short-listed for the job. In my experience in the Department, the people who were short-listed knew they were short-listed, while those who were not short-listed knew as much. There was some degree of transparency but this Bill will leave people completely in the dark.