Woulfe appointment timeline
Deputy Kenny returned to the disputed timeline for the Supreme Court appointment and the Tánaiste's alleged support for Mr Justice Woulfe. The Tánaiste repeated that the matter had been dealt with in the Minister's statement and that the appointment went to Cabinet only weeks later.
I extend best wishes for Christmas to the Tánaiste, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, all the staff in Leinster House, the Members and their families. This morning we learned that a memorandum was sent to Cabinet on 6 July regarding the appointment of a Supreme Court judge. That is at odds with what the Minister for Justice told us here three weeks ago and it is an issue that needs to be dealt with. What is not at odds is what she told us three weeks ago, namely, that the Tánaiste, interestingly, in a conversation with her had told her that Mr. Justice Woulfe would make an excellent judge. What was the context of that conversation and when did it happen? Was it at a formal meeting between the Tánaiste, as leader of Fine Gael, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, as a senior Fine Gael Deputy, was it in the context of him as Tánaiste with a senior Minister or, alarmingly, was it a less formal conversation? I want to understand why and how this conversation happened because it is clear to every sensible person in this country that Fine Gael boxed off the job. The Tánaiste instructed his Minister to appoint this man to the Supreme Court and we need to clear up this matter.
Comment on this
All of this was cleared up in the statement by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, some weeks ago in the Dáil. It was an informal contact and there was no instruction. The matter was not taken at Cabinet on 6 July. It was taken some weeks later. During that period the Minister had the opportunity to review all the names put to her and to discuss it with me, the Taoiseach, the leader of the Green Party and the Attorney General. She brought the nomination to Cabinet in the normal way at that point.