Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 94 and 95 correspond to Report Stage amendments Nos. 93 and 95 in the Dáil. The latter were part of a series of amendments that the Ceann Comhairle ruled could not be moved in the Lower House for procedural reasons. Section 47, to which these two amendments relate, provides for the recommendation to the Minister of a commission member and for the recusal of such member. Taken together, these amendments are, to a large extent, consequential on the inclusion of the Presidents of the Circuit Court and the District Court on the commission. The amendments provide, by extending the section, for their recusal where they have applied for appointment to judicial office and for their replacement in such event by the most senior judge of the relevant court. The amendments which, in substance, are focused on amendment No. 95, also deal with the recusal of the Bar Council or Law Society nominees and their replacement on the commission in these limited circumstances by another practising barrister or solicitor. I regard these additions as being necessary but I could not move them on Report Stage in the Dáil. I will defer to Senator McDowell on the matter of amendments Nos. 96 and 97.