Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

As I stated in my opening speech on Second Stage, the plan is not to have the extra District Court judges assigned to a particular district. The reason for this is to allow them to be effectively deployable at the insistence of the President of the District Court for the sake of flexibility.

The districts and their number are currently the subject matter of a proposal to redraw them. Inevitably, in the District Court with family law cases and the like, there is a significant requirement for flexibility. There was a time when a District Court judge was available in every district and it was only if a judge became seriously ill that someone would substitute. With family law cases and substantial lists of civil cases appearing, etc., it is necessary to have much more flexibility in the approach to the appointment of judges.

See this speech in context