Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late but I had to attend a health debate in the Seanad for the past two and half hours which included the Minister's responses to questions. I have a question on Dr. Coulter's report on records and refer to paragraph 19 which states: "The Courts Service has no national template for recording applications, and there may be double counting". Has there been any engagement with the Courts Services about putting a template in place to show a clear record of cases? Perhaps Dr. Coulter has covered this area in her response.
Paragraph 22 refers to cases being adjourned repeatedly. Dr. Coulter said this is due to different judges sitting on different days. That means when a case is adjourned there might be a different judge adjudicating on the next occasion. Has the Courts Services been consulted on ways to improve this situation? This problem is not new and has gone on for years.
I have done a small bit of court work and I have not done too much in regard to care orders. From my small experience of the matter, there are constant adjournments particularly with family law because different judges preside. If the judge who heard the case initially is not sitting on a particular day the case will be adjourned again. Has the Courts Services been contacted about improving this situation? We are talking about making some long-term changes. Are there immediate changes that can be put in place? There is nothing worse than a case going on ad infinitumand parties having to go in and out of court with no long-term solution available.