The judge who chairs the Standards in Public Office Commission has said he was never asked to sit in the High Court after he was appointed to the watchdog in December 2001.
Mr Justice Matthew P. Smith, who has resigned from the bench, said he had diligently discharged his obligations to the commission and had been fully involved in all of its activities. While he will leave the bench on December 31st, some 13 months before his official retirement date, he will stay on as chairman of the commission. A judge since 1985, he will be 69 years old next March and had given "considerable thought" to his retirement since reaching the age of 65.
He tendered his resignation last week to the President, Mrs McAleese, in the days before the Sunday Tribune reported that he had been unavailable for High Court work since joining the commission due to pressure of work.
The paper also cited records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act which indicated that he had attended the commission's office an average of about three times per month in recent times.
In a statement yesterday, the judge said the Courts and Courts Officers Bill of 2001 was amended to allow the appointment of an additional judge to the High Court to "compensate" for his assignment as chairman of the standards commission.
"At no time since my appointment as chairman of the Standards in Public Office Commission has a request been made to me to preside as a judge of the High Court," he said.
The Labour Party, which had called on the judge to explain why he retired, said it was "surprising" that Mr Smith had not been asked to sit as a judge in that time. "While the position of chairperson of the Standards in Public Office Commission is clearly an important one, other members of the commission carry out demanding, full-time jobs," said Labour's justice spokesman, Mr Joe Costello.
"I think it would important that, when judges are being appointed to positions of this nature in the future, it should be made clear whether or not they are expected to continue sitting on the bench."
The Government spokeswoman and a spokeswoman for the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, both declined to comment on the judge's resignation.
Mr Smith noted in his statement that he had been appointed to the commission by the President on the advice of the Government following resolutions passed by the Dáil and Seanad. In addition, he noted that he had been made chairman of the Commission on Electronic Voting last March and was a member of the recently-formed Commission for Public Service Appointments.
"I was involved in the work of the courts for over 40 years. Since reaching the age of 65, I have given considerable thought to my retirement as a judge of the High Court. On my retirement, a further vacancy on the High Court will arise," he said.
"Since January 2002, I have presided over 16 formal meetings of the Standards in Public Office Commission. I have been fully involved in all of its activities in the time since I became chairman.
"The most recent annual report of the Standards in Public Office Commission, covering 2003, reflects the wide range of supervisory duties which it carries out as indicated by the publication in 2003 of 13 separate reports and other documents arising from its remit."
He went on: "I have diligently discharged my obligations to the Standards in Public Office Commission and, more recently, to the Commission on Electronic Voting."