Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo Senator Norris's welcome for the Minister's response on amendment No. 111, the last amendment in the long list we have had. This amendment raises an important issue around what happens when a judge retires from office and there are outstanding judgments and so on. It is very good to hear the Minister say he will reflect on this and come back on Report Stage. This is the sort of compromise and negotiation that we could have engaged in far more productively far earlier.

I refrained from speaking on section 57, in which it is provided that the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, JAAB, would be dissolved. There was an obvious compromise, where we could have seen really effective reform of the judicial appointments system through reform of the existing JAAB, as proposed by, Jennifer Carroll MacNeilll, and other researchers who have looked at this. That sort of compromise could have been achieved very effectively through negotiation and discussion outside of, and perhaps prior to, Committee Stage of this Bill.

It is very welcome that the Minister has accepted some amendments offered by the Opposition and has indicated his willingness to look at others, including amendment No. 111.