Bar Council: A new Judicial Appointments Commission is 'unnecessary' 

The new bill was fast-tracked last year by Justice Minister Helen McEntee – currently on maternity leave – and is seen as a response to the furore surrounding the appointment of former attorney general Seamus Woulfe to the Supreme Court last summer. Picture: iStock

The establishment of a new Judicial Appointments Commission is in effect “unnecessary” given the infrastructure in place could be “reorganised” to perform the same function, according to the Bar Council of Ireland.

A submission from the Bar Council is expected to tell the Oireachtas Committee on Justice on Tuesday that the prospective new commission would be needlessly “costly”.