Seanad debates

Tuesday, 18 June 2019

Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2017: Committee Stage (Resumed)

 

2:30 pm

Photo of Jerry ButtimerJerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes I am baffled by the contributions in the House. I understand where Senators McDowell, Boyhan, and others are coming from but what is the principal intent or import of what we are doing here?

The Courts Service has advertised positions, and the headline of this article from the Law Society Gazettereads "Judgeship vacancy applications thrown open". The article states:

Vacancies for judgeships have been announced by the Court Service. Applications are invited from practising barristers and solicitors, under the Courts and Court Officers Acts 1995-2002, for appointment to the following roles.

It then provides a list of roles from the Supreme Court down to the District Court. It further states:

Those eligible for appointment and who wish to be considered should apply in writing to the Secretary, Judicial Appointments Advisory Board ... Fully completed applications will then be considered for vacancies that arise in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, Circuit Court and District Court during 2019. ... These applications will only remain valid pending enactment of any new legislation in relation to Judicial Appointments which is expected in 2019, the Courts Service has said.

It also says that more information is available on the website www.jaab.ie, and that the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, is involved.

I was watching "Nationwide" last night, which was broadcast from Listowel where John B. Keane's son was being interviewed about the town's Tidy Towns committee. I often wonder if John B. Keane were alive today and he wrote a letter to a Minister or a Deputy about appointment as a judge, what would he have said? Senator McDowell had the privilege of being a member of the Government as an Attorney General, a Minister, and as Tánaiste. The Minister before us, Deputy Flanagan, has also had that privilege. I fully accept that we have been well served by the vast majority of our Judiciary, and we do not go down the lines of the USA, with liberal judges versus conservative judges. Imagine that John B. Keane wrote a letter to the Minister, stating that he had been a member of the cumann since 19 nought splash, had been a diligent and loyal servant of the party, had graduated with an honours degree, had a budding practice, and would now love to be a judge.Suppose he said that he was looking to a Minister, Deputy, Senator or councillor to help him on the way. He might draw the Minister's attention to his relation, Margaret, a first cousin of the Minister's wife or a second cousin of his sister. Perhaps the relation is a member of the Bar Council of Ireland, with influence the Government could use in his appointment to the advertised position. I am not referring to Senator McDowell, in case he thinks I am. I am making a general point. Let us suppose that John B. Keane went on to note that he had canvassed in by-elections in north Donegal, west Kerry, north Cork and across the country, carrying the flag of the party with distinction. He might write that it was time for him to be honoured and accepted by the Government of which he had been a proud supporter. Suppose he wrote that he could be a wonderful judge in accordance with the party's great distinction of serving the country. Such things are in the gift of the Minister and his colleagues in Government, the comrades with whom he or she serves. The letter might seek the Minister's support. The letter might conclude: "Yours sincerely, Michael John Murphy, practicing solicitor, Main Street". The Minister might bring the letter to his colleague in Cabinet.

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