22.—(1) The Board shall not recommend a person to the Minister under section 16 of the Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995, unless the person has furnished to the Board—

(a) a tax clearance certificate that was issued to the person not more than 18 months before the date of the recommendation, and

(b) a statutory declaration made by the person not more than F6[three months] before that date to the effect that, at the time of the making of the declaration, the person is, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, in compliance with the obligations specified in subsection (1) of section 25 and that nothing in subsection (2) of that section prevents the issue to him or her of a tax clearance certificate.

(2) The Government shall not advise the President to appoint to a judicial office a person who was not the holder of a judicial office on the date of the advice and who was not recommended to the Minister in relation to that appointment by the Board under the said section 16 unless the person has furnished to the Secretary to the Government—

(a) a tax clearance certificate that was issued to the person not more than 18 months before the date of the advice, and

(b) a statutory declaration made by the person not more than F7[three months] before that date to the effect specified in subsection (1)(b).

(3) In this section—

“the Board” means the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board;

F8["judicial office" means the office of—

(a) judge of the Supreme Court,

(aa) judge of the Court of Appeal,

(b) judge of the High Court,

(c) judge of the Circuit Court,

(cc) specialist judge of the Circuit Court, or

(d) judge of the District Court.]

“the Minister” means the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.