Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 87a:

In page 29, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:

"Notifications to Government

42.In every case where the Commission makes a recommendation to the Government in respect of any appointment to judicial office, the Commission shall also notify the Government of the names of all persons who—(a) applied to the Commission in respect of that appointment,

(b) were persons whom the Commission considered to be eligible persons in accordance with the requirements of section 35, and

(c) were not included among the persons recommended by the Commission in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.".

In amendment No. 87b, in page 29, between lines 8 and 9, we wish to insert the following provision:

In every case where the Commission makes any recommendation to the Government in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, the Commission shall inform each of the persons applying to the Commission in respect of the judicial appointment in question—(a) whether the person was or was not among those persons recommended by the Commission to the Government in respect of that appointment, and

(b) whether, if it were the case, the Commission considered that the person was not eligible for appointment by reason of the requirements of section 35,and in any case where the Commission cannot make any recommendation the Commission shall notify all persons who applied to the Commission in respect of that appointment that it made no recommendation.

The objective of this amendment is to ensure that a person who applies to be recommended by the commission is informed as to whether he or she was or was not recommended. The secondary objective concerns providing information of where section 35 has applied to exclude persons who otherwise might have been selected but for the section 35 criteria. Section 35 states: "In addition to the requirement of sections 7and 36and subsection (2)and (where it applies) subsection (3), the Commission shall not recommend the name of a person to the Minister unless it is satisfied that the requirements of the relevant provisions are complied with in relation to the person." The relevant provisions are set out in subsection (6).

Section 7 states that a decision to recommend to include somebody on the shortlist of three "shall be based on merit." It further states:

Subject to subsection (1), where the function, under this Act, of selecting and recommending persons for appointment to a judicial office falls to be performed, regard shall be had to—(a) the objective that the membership of the judiciary should comprise equal numbers of men and women[.]

That is the first proposal, namely, that there should be numerical equality between men and women as far as possible.

Section 7 also states that regard should be had to "the objective that the membership of the judiciary should, to the extent feasible and practicable, reflect the diversity within the population as a whole". It also states that regard should be had to "the objective that, consistent with the written statement-----