I refer the Deputy to the fourth progress report of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution which stated that our present system of appointing judges should be retained. As I have already indicated to the House on a number of occasions, the Government has approved the drafting of the necessary legislation to address the recommendations contained in the report of the working group on qualifications for appointment as judges of the High and Supreme Courts and certain other matters. Central to that report is the recommendation that solicitors with appropriate qualifications and experience be eligible for appointment as judges of the High and Supreme Courts.
The Government legislative programme indicates that the necessary Bill entitled the courts and court officers Bill will be published in this parliamentary session. In that Bill I propose to deal not only with the eligibility of solicitors for appointment to the superior courts but with a range of other court related matters. Some modifications in respect of aspects of the operation of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board are in contemplation. However, the details of my proposals will be announced in the usual way on publication of the Bill, following approval from the Government.
On the question of the board's procedures, the Deputy will be aware that under section 14 of the Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995, the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board adopts its own procedures to carry out its functions under the Act. I am satisfied the board has and is carrying out its functions in an efficient and effective way and, accordingly, I do not propose to comment on the detail of its operations.