Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Government amendment No. 89 would mean that in the event of the commission being unable to recommend three names for appointment, but was able to recommend a lesser number or no persons as well as the name being provided to the Minister, it will also provide applicants' education, professional qualification, experience, character records and results of an interview or tests held or conducted by the commission is respect of the application.Bizarrely, as the legislation currently stands, the Attorney General is forbidden, under pain of criminal offence, from revealing to the Cabinet any persons who sought judicial office as part of the commission appointment process, yet, according to the Government's amendment, if, for whatever reason, the commission is unable to recommend any person for judicial office then it is obliged to list the name of every person who put himself or herself forward to the Minister.

Separately, and equally bizarrely, the commission is only bound to provide the Minister with the applicants' education, professional qualifications, experience, character records and results of any interview or tests held or conducted by it in respect of the applicant if less than three persons are recommended for a particular position. We addressed the position of the Attorney General and, as far as I recall, the Minister was open to a discussion on the position. Returning to my earlier point, and taking a scenario where we have advertised a judicial post-----