Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The objective that membership of the Judiciary should comprise equal numbers of men and women and the objective that it should reflect the diversity within the population as a whole are two matters to which the commission is supposed to have regard under section 7(2), but they are made, as stated in section 7(2), subject to section 7(1), namely, the requirement that appointments be made on merit. It seems to me that to omit the reference to merit from section 53(5) but retain reference to gender equality and diversity is not appropriate.

I note that the reference to diversity in section 7(2)(b), which states, "the objective that the membership of the judiciary should, to the extent feasible and practicable, reflect the diversity within the population as a whole", is converted to the simple proposition noting, "the objective that the membership of the judiciary should reflect the diversity within the population as a whole".It is interesting that the reference to feasibility and practicability is deleted at that level, whereas it is mentioned at the top of page 10 as a qualification to the requirement for diversity. The basic point is that section 7(2) is entirely subsidiary to the merit principle set out in section 7(1), but when we come to section 53(5), that subjection to merit seems to evaporate.