Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 91a seeks to delete lines six to 12 in section 44(9). Section 44(9) states:

If the Commission cannot, in accordance with this Act, recommend to the Minister any names of persons to fill a judicial vacancy referred to insubsection (1), the Minister shall request the Commission to seek expressions of interest on the part of eligible persons who wish to be considered for appointment to such office at three-monthly intervals until such time as the Commission is satisfied, subject to subsection (2), to recommend at least one person to the Minister to fill the judicial vacancy.

To understand what that subsection means, one has to go back to section 44(1) which refers to "the judicial office of Chief Justice, President of the Court of Appeal or President of the High Court" or where "the Minister reasonably apprehends that any of those offices will stand vacant" in the near future. Going back to section 44(9), it means in effect that when it comes to the position of Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal or the President of the High Court the commission could not find anybody to recommend for such a position. That is an extraordinary proposition. The Minister has on a few occasions uncharitably accused me of thinking up strange situations and I have denied that.