Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not agree with this amendment. I do not really understand it either, although I understand where Senator Higgins is coming from in seeking to exclude the Attorney General. I do not understand how the Attorney General who, under section 9, is already entitled to be a member of the commission but, under subsection 9(3), "shall not, as a member of the Commission, have a right to vote on any matter coming before the Commission for a vote." My question, therefore, is what is the purpose of having the Attorney General on the commission at all, given the functions of the commission are set out in section 10, namely, "to select and recommend persons" to two Ministers for judicial office? If we are then to exclude the Attorney General from any involvement in that process, the presence of the Attorney General on the commission in the first place is redundant.

However, I disagree with the place Senator Higgins is coming from. In fact, she will remember that on Committee Stage, I tabled an amendment to do the exact opposite, which was to give the Attorney General a vote. There is an undue and unjustified concern about what is perceived to be independence but is in fact just the removal of the chief law officer of the State from a process in which he or she should legitimately be involved. My amendment was not accepted. It is as it is and I accept the Minister's decision in that regard. We could, however, become unduly concerned about the Attorney General. Fewer Attorneys General have become judges than you might think. In fact, most of the past dozen or so Attorneys General have not entered into judicial office. That is also something that is not a concern and can sometimes come into the debate as a red herring.However, the Attorney General, as the chief law officer, the leader of the Bar, somebody who is intimately acquainted with the functioning of the courts, the jobs of the Judiciary and the qualities that would be appropriate for a person to be appointed to judicial office, and not being a judge him or herself, is uniquely placed among the members of that commission, who of course might have different interests in terms of the selection, to give an insight into the job of the commission. Not only do I disagree with the amendment, I disagree with where Senator Higgins is coming from. The opposite, in fact, should be the case. In the context of this amendment, whatever about what I think about it, it does not make sense to me because it makes redundant the idea of the Attorney General being a member of the commission at all. While that may be the idea behind the amendment, we would simply be neutering these provisions in the Bill unnecessarily and unjustifiably.