Ms Eilis Barry:

Absolutely. We provide a more detailed submission with our statement. On pages 29 and 30, we have set out the recommendations we have made to the Review of the Administration of Civil Justice in regard to people with disabilities. There are quite a number of recommendations, from engaging in routine data gathering and monitoring, accessibility of the physical space and what the Courts Service needs to do to provide for people with disabilities. We have recommended that an access officer be made available to assist people with disabilities and that court documentation needs to be in an accessible format, which it is not at present. We recommend that Wi-Fi needs to be available in all courtrooms, the Courts Service needs to work with people to improve accessibility, the website needs to undergo periodic accessibility testing for people with disabilities and all legal documents need to be available in accessible formats.

Ms Malone works with PILA, the Public Interest Law Alliance. Through PILA, Robbie Sinnott was involved in High Court proceedings seeking access to a secret ballot. Throughout the hearing, which lasted in excess of ten days, PILA had to attend the court simply to provide support to Mr. Sinnott, who has a visual impairment, to get around the court system. There is no proper provision for people with disabilities to access the court services. He was being cross-examined during the hearing with regard to documents that he could not access, and there were huge delays in getting documents from the State in a format he could access. They are very basic steps that need to be taken.

It is important to remind the committee that both the Courts Service and the Legal Aid Board are under a statutory obligation to promote equality under the public sector duty under section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act. They are obliged to have regard to the needs of people with disabilities and to look at what steps they can take to improve accessibility for people with disabilities in the courts. I hope the review of civil justice will look at people with disabilities in particular and will take on board some of our recommendations.

In regard to online services, people with disabilities may find it easier to access an online court. We had a conference in May, where Lord Briggs, who was involved in a report on online courts in the UK, came over and, together with Andrea Coomber, gave a practical demonstration of how an online court would work. I have to say I was amazed at how easy it was in practice. It would be easier than booking a Ryanair flight, which can be difficult enough, and I was shocked by how easy it was. It is time to look at that. Obviously, there would have to be safeguards. Ms Ryan referred to how the board's website is accessible. It has to be recognised that many people who come to FLAC would have literacy and language problems, and would not find websites or online services accessible. However, it is a resource that is there. There is quite a cohort of people who are at ease with using technology, so it is something that needs to be examined. Having said that, the Courts Service as it stands, if it was to look to introduce an online court, would have to cut back on its other services. While we certainly recommend this, it would have to be properly resourced.