asked the Minister for Justice if he will appoint a person (name supplied) in County Galway as a peace commissioner.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - County Galway Peace Commissioner.
89.
The selection of persons for appointment as Peace Commissioners is a matter for the personal discretion of the Minister for Justice and my decision in relation to the person concerned will be conveyed privately by letter in due course. It would be contrary to established practice and, in my opinion, wrong in principle that I should announce my decision on such a matter either in reply to a parliamentary question or in any other public forum.
When did the Minister receive notification of this person's interest in being appointed as a peace commissioner? Why has there been such a long delay in arriving at such a simple decision, especially in view of the fact that the Minister was able to appoint 600 since he took office?
I have not got the information as to when the application was made but the Deputy might know that.
About two months ago.
The Deputy should not ask questions about something to which he knows the answers already. The next part of the Deputy's supplementary refers to the delay. He has pinpointed the reason for the delay, which has been the unusually large number of applications, which have to be processed. This has been placed on the section in my Department concerned with this.