Judge appointment dominates Cabinet

The controversial appointment of Maire Whelan to the Court of Appeal dominated Leo Varadkar’s first Cabinet meeting as Taoiseach.

The Government’s top civil servant is to lead a review into how the Cabinet operates including the appointment of Máire Whelan to the Court of Appeal.

Amid growing anger and frustration at the number of memos being brought to the Cabinet at the last minute, Martin Fraser, secretary general to the Government, is to conduct a review of how memos are handled in advance of Cabinet meetings.