John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure where this falls but this week I received an e-mail that struck me. It was from an individual who had been summonsed as a prosecution witness in a multiple larceny and drugs case that required a special sitting of the Circuit Court. Present was a judge, a 12-man jury, five gardaí, senior counsel and a solicitor for the State, a senior counsel, junior counsel and solicitor for the defence, as well as four court staff and the individual who sent the e-mail. However, the accused did not show up. When the person who had been summonsed asked the gardaí, who had worked hard in the case, whether there would be any consequences for this no-show, they replied "No, it is the system". The sender of the e-mail then asked to be told that someone in politics was leading the charge to change radically the system, as the status quowas the most farcical and flagrantly wasteful imaginable. The State would have paid for the judges, the senior counsel and all of that. Is this a regular occurrence in the system? While I could be bordering on policy matters here, surely, were this to happen on a regular basis or even a not-so-regular basis, it should be of concern to the Department of Justice and Equality to ensure that whatever legislation could be suggested to the Minister to change would be suggested.