Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2022: Report Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2023-05-17
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Barry Ward (FG), Industrial and Commercial Panel

When speaking on this amendment on the previous occasion, I was agreeing with the amendment in respect of the difficulty it places because it perpetuates something which I have described as the difficulty in this Bill from the point of view of failing to recognise that the people who take judicial office cease to be former solicitors or barristers and are in fact judges and that they carry out an important judicial office in that regard that does not tally with their descriptor as a former member of either profession. I believe it is unnecessary in the context of the Bill to describe them as such or to weight the members of the commission in that regard. By the same token, if a casual vacancy arises, to continue or perpetuate that unnecessary recognition of former professions is inappropriate. Although I agree with the amendment, I also recognise that it was something I put down on Committee Stage. It was not accepted then so I do not have any real expectation that is likely to change.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2023-05-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:54+00:00
Sitting date: 2023-05-17