188.— Section 17 of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 is amended—

(a) in subsection (2) (as amended by section 5 of the Courts and Court Officers Act 2002), by deleting “A person” and substituting “Subject to subsection (4), a person”,

(b) in subsection (2A) (inserted by section 5 of the Courts and Court Officers Act 2002), by deleting “A judge” and substituting “Subject to subsection (4), a judge”,

(c) in subsection (2B) (inserted by section 5 of the Courts and Court Officers Act 2002), by deleting “A county registrar” and substituting “Subject to subsection (4), a county registrar”,

(d) by inserting the following after subsection (2B) (inserted by section 5 of the Courts and Court Officers Act 2002):

“(2C) A specialist judge of the Circuit Court shall be qualified for appointment as an ordinary judge of the Circuit Court.”,

and

(e) by inserting the following after subsection (3):

“(4) Any of the following persons shall be qualified for appointment as a specialist judge of the Circuit Court:

(a) a person who is for the time being a county registrar, having held such office for not less than 2 years continuously, and

(b) subject to subsection (5)—

(i) a person who is for the time being a practising barrister or a practising solicitor of not less than 10 years standing, and

(ii) a judge of the District Court.

(5) Subsection (4)(b) shall come into operation on such day, being not later than 1 January 2014, as the Minister may by order appoint.”.