The Government will produce legislation tomorrow to force the Circuit Court judge, Mr Brian Curtin, to appear before a Dáil inquiry, as its efforts to remove him from office gather pace, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent
The changes to the Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Compellability, Privileges and Immunities of Witnesses) Act, 1997, will be dealt with by the Dáil and Seanad tomorrow.
The move is necessary because judges are specifically excluded under the 1997 Act from being required to appear before Oireachtas committees to account for their professional conduct.
Next Tuesday the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, will by way of a motion to the Dáil lay out the existing information against Judge Curtin that would justify his removal from the bench.
However, this motion will not be put to a vote until a seven-strong Oireachtas committee set up to "receive, record and report" all relevant information has completed a report for the Dáil and the Seanad.
Two motions will be put to the Dáil on Tuesday next: one to set up the seven-strong committee to handle the inquiry into the Tralee-based judge's conduct, and the second detailing the committee's membership.
Although arrangements are not yet finalised, the committee, four from the Dáil and three from the Seanad, is likely to be Opposition-dominated, senior Government sources speculated last night.
The Government has already asked the Fianna Fáil TD for West Cork, Mr Denis O'Donovan, who chairs the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, to head the new body, which will meet in private and is likely to sit for months.
The Fine Gael TD, Mr Jim O'Keeffe, is also considered a near certainty for membership. "This is not going to be easy. If anything, it is a punishment duty with no margin for error," said one TD last night.
The Dáil's Committee on Procedures and Privileges, headed by the Ceann Comhairle, Dr Rory O'Hanlon, will meet today to see what Standing Orders are necessary, since no rules currently exist to cover the removal of a judge.
The Curtin inquiry committee will not be able to make findings to guide the rest of the Oireachtas following the Abbeylara court ruling that barred Oireachtas inquiries from making findings that damage the reputation of citizens.
Therefore, the full membership of the Dáil and Seanad "will have to be given lots of time" to read its full report before they are faced with any motion from the Government to remove Judge Curtin.
He was acquitted on April 23rd of possessing child pornography by direction of the trial judge, Judge Carroll Moran, after it was learned that a search warrant had been used too late.
Last Friday his solicitors wrote to the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, pointing out that he was too ill to instruct his legal team and that he was receiving treatment in St John of God Hospital, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Facing questions from the Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, in the Dáil, the Taoiseach said the judge had been able to instruct his team that he "had not been involved in impropriety of the type alleged against him".
The Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, sought a guarantee that the Government would not try to agree a deal with the judge while Opposition members were being asked to form a committee to remove him.
Replying, Mr Ahern said: "The removal of a judge from office is a serious constitutional process. The power derives from the Constitution and it must be devoid of party political interest.
"It must never yield to anything other than that. What we said both inside and outside the House makes it clear that it is not a trivial matter."