For the purposes of this Bill, the only country I am proposing to designate is the UK. I note that the amendment refers to "changes to the list of safe third countries" and not changes within those countries. Therefore, it is specifically the list. Any new designation for a safe third country is required to be brought before the Houses and that is specified within this. Obviously for the purposes of this Bill, the only country I am proposing to designate is the UK and therefore it would not necessarily apply for th…

I am not opposed to the idea, but it is not appropriate in this legislation. It might arise in other legislation.

If it does not require legislation, it is something I would be happy to look at.

I thank Senator Bacik for the approach that she has taken and the fact that we are having a general discussion about this today. As she has rightly pointed out, we will meet within the next two weeks to look at the issues that have been identified here, the problems we have and how we can move them forward whether through legislation or other means. I look forward to working with the Senator and others in that regard. A country's citizenship laws are critical to the integrity of the State and the rights of the peop…

I am happy to take this opportunity to update the House on the appointment by the Government of members of the Judiciary. Over the past century, one of the great successes of the modern Irish State has been the Judiciary, which has consistently acted in a robust and independent fashion and earned the respect of fellow judges in Europe and around the world. Since I was elected to this House, and especially since I have had the honour of serving as Minister for Justice, I have been acutely conscious of my over-riding…

I do not think anybody's political persuasion should prevent him or her from being promoted or moving through the ranks of any job, whether for a judicial appointment or not. I was appointed on 27 June, which was a Saturday. On Sunday, 28 June, I came into the Department and, as is customary, I was given a huge amount of notes and information. As part of that information, I was told by my Department that there was a vacancy and a request from the Chief Justice to fill it as quickly as possible. I also found out wit…

I am not saying that the Tánaiste is the only person I spoke to. I am saying that he gave his view and made his opinion known. Following that, after I received other names, I looked at those names-----

I ask the Deputy to please let me answer. It is my role, as the Minister for Justice, to make a recommendation. I made that recommendation to the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, and the Attorney General. Deputy Kenny's colleague earlier mentioned the former Minister and Deputy, Dermot Ahern. If the Deputy was to quote from his article this week, what he said was that not once did he ever bring more than one name or make more than one recommendation to the Taoiseach. In fact, he told them t…

What the Cabinet handbook says is that in the case of appointments to the Judiciary, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and other party leaders, the Minister for Finance and the Attorney General should be informed in advance of proposals to make such appointments and I did just that.

I refer to my previous response that other former Ministers for Justice have very clearly said they never brought other names to the Taoiseach.

What I am saying is that I made a recommendation. It is my job and my role as Minister for Justice to make a recommendation. When I made that recommendation to the Taoiseach, the Taoiseach did not object. It is a long-standing practice, and has been the case for many years, that there is not just the JAAB process, there are expressions of interest from judges-----

Again, I can repeat what is in the Cabinet handbook. I cannot talk about what happened in a Government in which the Deputy served. As Minister for Justice, it is my job to bring forward a name and that is what I did exactly in this instance.

In terms of appointing a judge, again I will read out the only reference in the handbook to the appointment of judges-----

The only memorandum concerning judicial appointments that is referred to says that I should inform the relevant individuals that I have just outlined, namely, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Attorney General, any other party leader and, in this instance, the Minister for Finance who was informed in the esubmission that would have gone to all of the Cabinet before the appointment was made.

So I have adhered to the letter of the law.

So that is not the case. As I outlined in my earlier response, what I receive initially is an e-document, which is a draft memorandum. I received that on 6 July. After I have signed off on that, it is then adjusted to be sent to Cabinet. It has always been the case that a name itself does not even go to Cabinet; a memorandum informs colleagues that a name is going to be brought for appointment, be it to the Supreme Court, the District Court, the High Court or anywhere else. That is exactly what happened in this ins…

That is my understanding, yes. That is my understanding that that is the precedent that has been set.

I have asked my officials what is the precedent here. What I was informed is that no names went to Cabinet. Therefore, I asked the question and my officials in the Department informed me that only one name goes to Cabinet. What we have heard from many previous Ministers for Justice is that only one name ever goes to Cabinet.

I am aware of this non-statutory advisory group. I am also aware that this group was established specifically for the sole purpose of appointments of Chief Justice and presidents of courts, not for actual judges, so this did not apply in this regard.

In making that decision I looked at all of the names myself. Before sending a name to Cabinet, I made my recommendation to the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and to the Attorney General. Having had those conversations, I then made a recommendation to Cabinet.