James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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The McManus review is being carried out to assess the number of additional judges we need in the District Court, Circuit Court, High Court and Court of Appeal. In addition, last week an amendment was tabled to the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill on freeing up Court of Appeal judges. As the legislation is written at present there must always be a panel of three judges no matter how straightforward the application may be. I hope this amendment will free up some of their capacity. There is recognition that we need additional judges. We have to ensure we are putting the right number of judges at the right level and dealing with the right volume of cases. There also needs to be an element of reform in how the courts operate to ensure there are effective efficiencies in the system. We have seen the advent of technology that has certainly helped in a number of areas. Once the McManus review is published, we will have a greater handle on the number of additional judges we need.