The Government is considering what best practice should when considering the removal of a judge from the bench, the Taoiseach Mr Ahern told the Dáil this afternoon.
Responding to a question from Labour leader, Mr Pat Rabbitte, about the future of Judge Brian Curtin following his acquittal on child pornography charges, Mr Ahern said there may not be a need to publish the long awaited Judicial Conduct and Ethics Bill.
He told Mr Rabbitte that decisions on procedures to remove judges from the bench for "stated misbehaviour" could be made by standing order in the Dáil.
The Government is to write to Judge Curtin to "seek an explanation from him to the circumstances of his apparent access to a website and the downloading of child pornography images of same".
"This request of Judge Curtin is with a view to shortly making a fair and objective assessment as to whether grounds exist for a motion of removal of the judge from office for stated misbehavior," Mr Ahern said.