Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In respect of the legal profession, the design of the Small Claims Court is such that people are not represented. There is an informal procedure to facilitate a resolution or adjudication on matters. One argument is that if one is dealing with claims at that level, to protect people’s rights they should have legal representation, or the facility for that, but the moment legal representation comes into a Small Claims Court, the costs for everyone involved increase substantially. There is a balance to be achieved. I understand those concerns, particularly if issues of great legal complexity arise. There could be a mechanism whereby were that to happen the case could transfer from the Small Claims Court to the District Court where it would be dealt with as an ordinary District Court case. We cannot, however, provide a European prescription designed solely to meet our court structure.

It would be helpful if the courts maintained statistics on the different types of disputes on which they adjudicate. I will write to the Courts Service suggesting that would be of help. It would also help because annual publication of that information would give the public some insight into the nature of the cases, if it was reported.

I have some statistics for the Small Claims Court. I do not have the 2013 figures but in 2012 it received 3,067 applications in this State. That was fewer, for reasons I am not aware of, than in 2011, when it received 3,836. In 2012, the court adjudicated on 345 cases, and in 2011, on 286. The cases adjudicated on in a year were not necessarily initiated in that year.

Some cases initiated in 2011 would have been determined in 2012 and so on. There were 73 cases dismissed in 2012 and 86 in 2011. In 2012, 304 cases were either struck out or withdrawn, and it was 310 cases in 2011. In instances where cases are withdrawn or struck out, it may be as a consequence of the individuals who made the claim deciding not to pursue it or that the claim is resolved and settled and the issues in dispute have been dealt with. These are some of the statistics from the extracts of the 2012 Courts Service annual report.