Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

This amendment is related to the Minister's earlier point on the review of the District Court areas for the administration of justice. If the Minister does not have a reply for me now perhaps he will examine it and write to me about it. I understood this review was well under way and had been completed a couple of years ago. I wonder why such a length of time has been taken to reorganise the districts on the basis of significant population changes from the west coast, in the same manner that constituency boundaries have been reviewed over the years. The effect of population increases on the workload of the Courts Service and the administration of justice should be reflected in the number of courts in any district.

I would have thought consideration would be given to according the District Court boundaries with the county boundaries. That would give rise to a more consumer-friendly regime. For example, some districts in the midlands, districts Nos. 9 and 14, incorporate three and sometimes four counties, or portions thereof. That has given rise to the inconvenience or difficulty this amendment seeks to address through temporary assignments to other, perhaps adjoining, areas. There could be circumstances in which parts of one parish or town are in different court areas, like the example Deputy O'Shea gave in his constituency. A number of district court boundaries may encroach on an area, which would not accord with the county bounds. For ease of administration and to become more consumer and user-friendly, so that people might know, the designation could be along county bounds. If the review, which has been going on for a long number of years, does not require an in-depth study, I would have thought the matter might be dealt with expeditiously. The Minister will say the matter is primarily for the Courts Service, but perhaps he will determine the up-to-date position.

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