Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In any event, I note that it is reported in today's edition of The Irish Timesthat, without an expensive commission, any of the bells and whistles entailed in this legislation, setting up a new body or having a lay majority, the Government has already put in place a perfectly sensible non-statutory arrangement whereby it consults with senior members of the Judiciary about the filling of the posts of President of the Circuit Court and President of the District Court. We do not need the measures contained in the Bill. The Government is getting on perfectly well without them. What is the compulsion to spend millions of euro to do what the Government is perfectly capable of doing without those measures? I strongly believe that should be underlined. There is nothing stopping this or any subsequent Government appointing high-quality judges such as those the Government has been appointing in recent times using the means it has adopted and taking advice from wherever it wishes. It does not need to set up a quango which will cost a large sum of money and delay the whole process immensely. The interesting thing is that the process detailed in The Irish Timesdoes not seem to entail a public advertisement of the positions of President of the Circuit Court and President of the District Court, but this Bill will entail such advertisement, which is extraordinary. I do not know why we should have a public advertisement and the involvement of a commission. I know that the Minister does not want the commission to be involved in certain high-level appointments.

I come back to another point I made on the Bill. If the appointment of the President of the District Court merits a different process from the commission and the Government is happy to do that, surely the appointment of an ordinary judge of the Supreme Court can be dealt with in the same way.