I am sharing time with Deputy Carthy. The facts of the matter before us are as follows. On 27 June, the Minister for Justice took office. Waiting on her desk when she arrived in the Department were four applications for the job of Supreme Court judge, a massive job carrying a salary, in excess of €220,000, paid for by taxpayers. The Minister had four applications - not one, as she and other Ministers have tried to make out, but four. Whether they came from JAAB or via expressions of interest is immaterial. She had …

It would be better to have a back-and-forth process, if that is possible.

We all know we must get some facts out, including that Séamus Woulfe was a long-time Fine Gael party activist. That has not been disputed by the Minister or anybody else. He sat around the Fine Gael Cabinet table for four years. The Minister took up her role on 27 June. She got a list of four names on 6 July, including candidates with long judicial experience. In record time, a matter of days, the Minister whittled that list of four names down to one and that single name went off to the Cabinet. The Minister said n…

To be clear, the Minister is saying that basically she spoke to one person in Cabinet and that was the Tánaiste in respect of this issue. If that is the case, it means that the Minister and the Tánaiste were the ones who made this decision. That is clearly what the Minister is saying. The Minister is also saying, which is vital to this issue, that she did not inform the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach of the day was not informed. I want to know why the Minister left the Taoiseach in the dark in respect of the decision whi…

Who else did the Minister speak to?

That is not the point.

But the Minister did not inform the Taoiseach.

I want to raise with the Taoiseach the issue of the catheterisation laboratory in Sligo University Hospital. At the moment there is a temporary cath lab that is available a couple of times per week. This is an ongoing issue and there has been a campaign to put in place the service for many years. People who live in the north west and who need the service are being deprived of it. There is also an issue with the recruitment of a cardiologist. Dr. Donal Murray is due to retire. He told me personally that getting a re…

It did not.

The Taoiseach is mixing it up.

Suitability for consideration but not suitability for appointment.

The board recommended Séamus Woulfe for consideration, not for the position.

That the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board appoints judges. It does not appoint judges.

Yes, and that is the point.

That is not what the Taoiseach said.

Would the Taoiseach have accepted that? He would not have accepted that.

We want the same for the Minister for Justice as the Tánaiste.

It is not agreed. The reality of the situation is that, under the stewardship of the Taoiseach, a number of Ministers have come into this Chamber in similar circumstances, and questions have been taken, they have made a statement and everyone in the Chamber has had the opportunity to cross-examine them on various issues. All we want is exactly the same for the Minister for Justice. The Minister for Justice should be no more precious than the Tánaiste or anyone else in this Chamber. She should come in here and answe…

No. He was recommended as being suitable for consideration by JAAB, not for the job.

That is not the point, and the Taoiseach knows that.