Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Inserting the word "to" would make the section more coherent. Amendment No. 92 tabled by the Labour Party on which Members have just voted would have dealt with a serious substantive issue with section 46, namely, that it does not currently require any ranking by the commission. As the Minister is well aware, the issue of ranking in the order of the commission's preference has been pointed out as a flaw in the current Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, JAAB, process, as it does not rank in order of priority those persons whose names it puts forward. It is unfortunate that a ranking requirement will not be included in section 46, given that the Bill is all about reform of the Judiciary. The reality is that the meaning of the section is less than clear. As well as the grammatical issue, there is the issue raised by Senator McDowell that he seeks to address through amendment No. 92a. The section does not make clear at what point the names should be recommended to the Minister. The amendment would clarify the section and make its meaning more apparent. However, the section also requires further amendment.