Ms Michele O'Boyle:

The remote hearings have been a success, in the main because of the willingness of all of the stakeholders to make that happen. We did have trial court hearings during the summer. Ms McNamara referenced the difficulties in terms of the infrastructure and the capacity of the courts. If we are to ensure access to justice going forward we will have to adopt a model of remote hearings. Currently, there are remote hearings for some call-overs of court lists. There are some matters that can certainly be dealt with which do not require a court hearing. Judges' time can be more usefully used in dealing with contentious matters rather than matters which could be dealt with remotely, including call-over lists and so on. Going forward, if there is appropriate investment in the correct infrastructure it is the way forward. It will assist in the access to justice and, possibly, cheaper running of the Courts Service.