Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I particularly welcome the information given by the Minister on the family law courts and on the seminar, which I will attend and I look forward to receiving details of it. It is an area in which I am very interested. We all hear anecdotal evidence from time to time about how families find it difficult to appear in court. The mediation services are not great - one could be sitting on a stool next to the person one would be up against. In that context, Wicklow Deputies received a notification from the Courts Service last week advising that the Circuit Court in Wicklow town will continue to be closed. It has been closed temporarily and the court service has been moved to Bray. The Courthouse in Baltinglass is to close also and all services will be concentrated in Bray. As Deputy Mac Lochlainn mentioned, family law cases are often delayed because a criminal case is taken or for some such reason and there is a fear that family law cases will be further delayed. I welcome the Minister's announcement of his intentions to hold a referendum on the family law area. I know it cannot all be done on the same day, as it were, and that it will take time and resources but such a referendum will be very welcome. I know of the Minister's interest in this area but it is one that has been ignored to some extent.

Regarding the Votes, there has been a decrease in the provision for consultancy services in a number of areas, for example, for the Garda Síochána and the Courts Service and under the administration heading, but there has been a large increase in the Estimate provision for the consultancy services for the prisons and for the Property Registration Authority. I want to ask the Minister to clarify why there has been such an increase.