The Government is expected at its meeting tomorrow to take the first steps to initiate an impeachment procedure against Judge Brian Curtin after his acquittal on charges of possessing child pornography.
While the procedures have not been fully defined, the Government is expected to declare its intention to find means of ensuring that the judge does not return to the bench.
The Government would only say last night that the Cabinet will discuss legal advice from the Attorney General, Mr Rory Brady SC.
Mr Brady has been considering a letter from the judge in which there was no suggestion that he intends to resign.
The judge was acquitted of charges of possession of child pornography last month after it emerged that the warrant used to search his home was out of date.
The Government is determined to deal with the issue quickly, but, is conscious of the legal sensitivity surrounding an action against a judge declared innocent of the charge he faced by the courts.
Among the considerations facing the Government is the necessity of developing a procedure that can ensure that justice will be seen to be done.
However, the Government is also concerned to safeguard the process against any legal challenge.
Mr Ahern has already indicated that legislation or changes to the standing orders of the Houses of the Oireachtas may be required to initiate proceedings.
Should the Government push ahead with impeachment, the Opposition will be asked to support the process.
The questions surrounding impeachment include uncertainty about whether all Oireachtas members should attend hearings or whether a committee could conduct such work. There will also be a requirement to provide for the compellability of witnesses to appear before hearings and produce evidence.
The Labour Party leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, suggested yesterday that a provision in the Constitution which says that a judge may be removed from office for "incapacity" could be applied in the case of Judge Curtin.
"In this case we have a Circuit Court judge accused of possessing child pornography but acquitted by direction of the court purely because the evidence against him was obtained on a spent warrant," said Mr Rabbitte.
"The judge has not sat in court for the last two years. And, no matter what the outcome of the present deliberations, there is no possibility at all that he will ever sit in court to preside over a trial again."
Mr Rabbitte said the judge had lost the confidence of his judicial colleagues, the Government and the public. "A judge who has irrevocably lost the confidence of the people has been stripped of a capacity to act as a judge, it seems to me, within the meaning of Article 35 of our Constitution."
The Director of Public Prosecutions is to decide in the next few weeks whether the judge should face separate charges after his arrest 10 days ago in Tralee on suspicion of drink-driving.
