Mr. Brendan Ryan:

The Court of Appeal was established on 28 October and sat for the first time on Wednesday, 5 November. It began hearing criminal appeals and sentence-related matters on 10 November and these sittings will continue each day until the end of term, on 19 December. Hearing dates have been given for 140 such cases this term. On 17 November the President of the court held further list hearings to fix dates to hear transferred appeals against convictions. The court will sit Monday to Friday each week to consider these matters.

In civil matters, all notices of civil appeals are given a date for a directions hearing before a nominated judge. Directions hearings for expedited appeals will be held each Thursday, while ordinary appeals will be listed for directions hearings on Fridays.

We anticipate annual expenditure on the Court of Appeal will be in the region of €2.5 million to €3 million. This estimated expenditure includes judicial salaries plus overhead costs. However, judicial salaries do not come from the Courts Service but are paid from the Central Fund. The figure given will also cover court equipment and support staff.