Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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172. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if, in the context of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022, consideration has been given to the establishment of a judicial college given the prevalence of same in other jurisdictions and the potential role of same given the identified training needs in relation to proposed and existing legislation. [18425/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, training of judges is not a Ministerial function.

The General Scheme of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022, which was approved by Government last week, includes a provision that candidates for judicial appointment will be required to show they have undertaken judicial training or continuous professional development.

Amongst the functions of the Judicial Council established under the Judicial Council Act 2019 is to “develop and manage schemes for the education and training of judges”. Section 17 of the 2019 Act provides for the establishment of a Judicial Studies Committee.

That Committee was established on 10 February 2020. As per Section 6 of the Judicial Council Act the Judicial Council is, subject to the provisions of the Act, independent in the exercise of its functions.

As Minister for Justice, I have no role in relation to the operation of the Council or its Committees.