184D.—(1) For the purpose of identifying officers, F225[and persons other than officers,] and informing the Minister of their suitability for appointment as Director, there shall be established a committee consisting of—

(a) the Chief of Staff,

(b) a Judge of the High Court, nominated by the President of the High Court, and

(c) the Director of Public Prosecutions.

(2) (a) In the case of the person specified in subsection (1)(b) of this section signifying at any time unwillingness or inability to act for any period as a member of the committee, the President of the High Court may nominate any other available Judge of the High Court to be a member of the committee in place of that person for that period.

(b) In the case of the Director of Public Prosecutions signifying at any time unwillingness or inability to act for any period as a member of the committee, the Minister may, after consultation with the Attorney General, appoint as a member of the committee in place of the Director of Public Prosecutions, for that period, a practising barrister nominated by the General Council of the Bar of Ireland or a practising solicitor nominated by the Law Society of Ireland.

(3) The committee may adopt such procedures as it considers appropriate to carry out its functions under this section.

F226[(3A) A committee established under this section, having considered—

(a) the service of an officer, other than an officer referred to in section 184C(3), who is a qualified barrister or solicitor in a position in the full-time service of the State (including as a member of the Permanent Defence Force and as a civil servant within the meaning of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956) for any period following that qualification, and

(b) the duties and role discharged by the officer in relation to the service, during that period,

may determine that it is satisfied that—

(i) such duties and role are substantially similar in substance and effect to those discharged by an officer referred to in section 184C(3), and

(ii) such duties and role were carried out by the officer on a day to day basis throughout that period.]

(4) The committee shall, whenever so requested by the Minister, select an officer or officers, F227[or, as the case may be, one, or more than one, person other than an officer,] for appointment under section 184C and shall inform the Minister of the selection made and of his or their suitability for the appointment.

(5) The Government shall not appoint F228[an officer, or a person other than an officer, to be the Director unless the officer, or person,] was selected or amongst those selected by the committee pursuant to a request under subsection (4) of this section in relation to that appointment, but—

(a) if the committee is unable to select F229[a suitable officer or person other than an officer,] pursuant to a particular request under that subsection, or

(b) if the Government decide not to appoint to be the Director F230[the officer or any of the officers, or such person or any of such persons selected by the committee] pursuant to a particular request under that subsection,

then either—

(i) the Government shall F231[ appoint an officer, or as the case may be, a person other than an officer, to be the Director,] who was selected or amongst those selected by the committee pursuant to a previous request (if any) under that subsection in relation to that appointment, or

(ii) the Minister shall make a further request to the committee under that subsection and F232[the Government shall appoint an officer, or such person, to be the Director] who was selected or amongst those selected by the committee pursuant to that request or pursuant to another request under that subsection in relation to that appointment.

(6) All proceedings of the committee and all communications to the committee shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed except for the purposes of this Chapter.]