Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 30 March 2021

Select Committee on Justice and Equality

Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Revised)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Revised)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Revised)
Vote 24 - Justice (Revised)
Vote 41 - Policing Authority (Revised)
Vote 44 - Data Protection Commission (Revised)

Photo of Helen McEnteeHelen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have two different figures. The €8.5 million was allocated for the overall modernisation programme and that is something that is being developed by the Courts Service, led by Angela Denning. This is looking at the national plan but the €5 million specific Covid funding that had been allocated was feeding into that as well in supporting various courts in developing their own ICT and technology. I accept and the Courts Service would accept that it has not been rolled out uniformly across every court to date. There have been challenges with the age of some of the buildings, the ability to access broadband and certain things like that and that moves into another space with the roll-out of the national broadband plan, which is in full swing. Work is continuing and there is a plan that has been clearly put in place by the Courts Service, not just taking Covid-19 on board but looking at the long-term picture. ICT plays a huge part in that.

We had the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 last year. While that Act was introduced to deal with the Covid restrictions, it is also something that will benefit us in the long run in enabling people to partake in court sittings remotely and we have seen huge benefits, particularly in the area of domestic violence and in other areas where people have been able to access the various different sittings remotely. Part of the €5 million allocated under "other funding" has been used to try to make sure that our courts are safe and that we do not have people arriving in the same way they would have done previously. In particular, courts might have been sitting in a way whereby everybody might be arriving at the same time in the morning and waiting to see when they will be heard. There have been particular times given to people so that they arrive at an allocated time, which is another practice that I hope will continue and that is hugely beneficial, not just for those who are working there but more particularly, for those who are potentially having their cases heard on that relevant day.

On the capital works programmes, we are somewhat behind but at the same time work is continuing. We have provisions for further new or refurbished courthouses in provincial cities and towns where facilities are substandard. This includes Galway city, Wicklow town, Portlaoise, Tralee and Roscommon. We have other locations such as Dungloe to cater for the Gaeltacht region. We are developing a family law and children's court complex at Hammond Lane, which was allocated significant funding and we hope that work can proceed next year. There is still some work to be done in finalising the plans for that. We will have the modernisation and redevelopment of the Four Courts following the completion of the Hammond Lane project. Then there is the construction of standard county facilities. There are a number of locations included in this such as Dublin, north Kildare, Bray and Navan. I mention the regional family law centre as well.

Due to Covid-19, it is hard to explain the precise allocation and timing of additional funding, when these projects will be completed or when some of them will be started. Many of these projects are continuing and much of the work behind the scenes is continuing before the building is required to start. Once we start to ease restrictions, further construction work can continue. There have been some delays but at the same time there is a huge amount of work continuing in the background to make sure that these projects are progressing and that when time allows, they can have feet on the ground and sods can be turned.

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