Taoiseach: Government to oppose any move against Woulfe
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The Taoiseach says the Government will vote against any proposals for impeachment proceedings against Supreme Court justice Seamus Woulfe.
A motion will be brought to the Oireachtas by RISE TD Paul Murphy this week to take the first steps towards impeachment.
It follows the fallout from Woulfe’s attendance at the controversial Oireachtas Golf Society dinner in Clifden in August.
"We will be opposing that," Mr Martin told journalists on Monday, adding that the statement issued last week by the Government in which they stated that no further action would be taken remains their response on the issue.
A review into Woulfe’s attendance found it would be “unjust and disproportionate” for the judge to resign, and he has subsequently declined to step down despite pressure to do so from Chief Justice Frank Clarke.
"It is important for accountability, the Oireachtas Golf Society dinner was a dinner of around 80 people, an extended affair of politicians and it was an event in breach of regulations legally enforced and publicly announced the day before," Mr Murphy said.
"He was formerly Attorney General and involved in the drafting of these regulations.
"It is up to the Oireachtas in the constitution to decide what constitutes 'stated misbehaviour' or doesn't.
"At a time when people were unable to go to funerals, people were jailed for breaking regulations, all as part of public health effort, what he did undermined that public effort substantially," said Mr Murphy, adding that Woulfe's comments in relation to the criticism, in which he said he didn't know what he was apologising for, were an additional issue.
"What happened was a flagrant breach of regulations, the signal that it gave out was that these rules only apply to the little people," he said, adding that initiating impeachment was the only option available to the opposition to try and act on the issue.
Meanwhile, the opposition has requested an emergency meeting of the Dáil Business Committee to discuss a proposal from the Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee.
The opposition is united on what they call "serious concerns" about the process that led to the appointment of Seamus Woulfe to the Supreme Court.
Ms McEntee stated that rather than agree to the standard statements and question slot in the Dáil, as requested by the collective opposition, she would deal with the matter through moving the scheduled Minister’s Questions slot forward to Tuesday, December 1.
A letter from Sinn Féin whip Padraig MacLochlainn, seen by said: "The format proposed by the Minister for taking these questions is unacceptable and indeed, it would create a very dangerous precedent from the perspective of the ability of the opposition to hold the government or a Minister to account in our democratically elected parliament".
Then-Attorney General and now-Supreme Court Justice Seamus Woulfe's name was the only one put forward to Cabinet for the court appointment, while other sitting judges had expressed interest in the job.
There were two vacant posts on the Supreme Court at that time, one of which is still outstanding.