Opposition: Woulfe nomination was a 'foregone conclusion'

Applications from sitting judges were discounted in favour of Séamus Woulfe, said Social Democrats leader Catherine Murphy.

The nomination of Séamus Woulfe to the Supreme Court had become a “foregone conclusion” by the time it got to Cabinet, it has been claimed in the Dáil.

Social Democrats leader Catherine Murphy said it is clear that applications from sitting judges were discounted in favour of Mr Woulfe.

She said the reality is that the Opposition were told there was one process, and the one process was a Judicial Appointments Advisory Board process.

“To me, that sounds like everything else was binned and that there was a foregone conclusion, which materialised because there was one process and individuals were excluded from it. That is the only thing we can take from what the Taoiseach said during the week,” she added.

She was responding after Tánaiste Leo Varadkar revealed that the week before the new Government was being formed the party leaders discussed whether Séamus Woulfe would be reappointed as Attorney General or whether there would be a new appointment.

“We decided collectively that there would be a new Attorney General and that Séamus Woulfe would not be reappointed as Attorney General and at that point, for transparency and information, I informed the other leaders that there was a vacancy, that Séamus Woulfe had been recommended by the Judicial Appointments Board, JAAB, as suitable for that vacancy, and that was the end of the conversation,” he said.

Ms Murphy pressed Mr Varadkar saying: “The Taoiseach has said constantly that there was one recommendation, which came through JAAB. He has been very specific about that. He uses the phrase, ‘one recommendation comes through JAAB’. Is that the process? Does the Tánaiste concur with the Taoiseach? What happens to those who apply through the other process? Are they really considered? What status is given to the experience of people who have served as judges in respect of this process?

“How do we get the best outcome in filling the positions? Will the Tánaiste focus on what the Taoiseach has said during the week, that is, that there was one process and one name came through that process?”

Labour Leader Alan Kelly said the Dáil has also heard the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste say that because Mr Justice Woulfe came through the JAAB process, that that is all we need to know.

“JAAB makes a recommendation of those suitable, it does not make a recommendation, full stop. That is also bogus. We have four instances of bogus statements,” he said.
“The Tánaiste has a very big decision to make under our Constitution and his government. If the minister for justice does not come in here to answer questions, his government does not have legitimacy or these Houses are not functioning,” he said.