M J Nolan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I welcome this legislation and am pleased to note it will not be too controversial because there has been agreement on all sides with regard to its passing. I will add for the record what previous speakers acknowledged, namely, the contribution of the Courts Service to the physical transformation of our courthouses throughout the length and breadth of the country. The Courts Service was fortunate in so far as funding was available for refurbishment and for the construction of new courthouses as some courthouses had become very dilapidated and run down. They were eyesores and a source of annoyance in many of our county towns and cities. They have been modernised and this is very welcome. Many courthouses were situated in a place of prominence in a town. It was unfortunate that they fell into disrepair. The county councils had a function in the upkeep of courthouses and at a time when their funding and their revenue stream was limited, they were not in a position to invest the type of moneys required to bring the courthouses up to a 20th century standard. This has now been achieved and I commend the various Ministers who succeeded in securing funding for the Courts Service for this refurbishment work. The Courts Service is to be commended for the sensitive manner in which it went about refurbishing the courthouses.

The Courts Service has also streamlined the management of the courts. While much has been done there is still some way to go to have an even more efficient and effective service. I refer to the introduction of the digital recording of proceedings which was a significant advance in terms of administration of the courts. This is to be commended. The building of a new courthouse for central Dublin commenced in May 2007 and it is pleasing to note that it will be completed ahead of schedule for hand over in November 2009.

An issue which has been referred to by the Minister in his Second Stage contribution is the question of maximising the use of Garda time. We all have anecdotal evidence of gardaí attending a court sitting at 10 a.m. who must remain there all day and it often happens that the case is adjourned on appeal but a garda will have spent his time standing around. My constituency office is located close to the courthouse in Carlow and on a weekly basis I see the number of gardaí who are obliged to attend and who must wait for cases to be dealt with. This practice is soul-destroying for them as they are obliged to wait around and often a case does not proceed. This practice is referred to in the Bill but I would like more comprehensive legislation introduced which would deal with the use of Garda time in court cases.

The other issue I ask the Minister to investigate is the abuse of the free legal aid system. We are all aware of high profile cases in which legal aid is granted to defendants. One does not have to know everything about certain individuals to know that they have the wherewithal to pay their own legal costs through the many scams in which they are involved, yet the taxpayer is obliged to pay their legal bills. There should be tighter scrutiny by the courts before granting this facility to certain individuals. I accept there are genuine cases where legal aid is required by defendants or by individuals before the courts and I preface my remarks by saying that genuine cases are entitled to free legal aid and the State should provide it but more and more there is evidence of high profile cases where the evidence in previous cases would suggest that these are people of means yet they apply for legal aid. To the outsider looking at it, these people seem to be granted this facility by the courts without a proper examination of the circumstances.

The system of on-the-spot fines for traffic and parking offences has freed up the time of the courts significantly. It has been singularly successful in keeping cases such as speeding, parking or littering offences out of the courts. Under legislation introduced in this House an on-the-spot fine may be imposed and paid. I ask for an extension of this system where possible to free up the expensive time of gardaí and to allow them spend more time doing what they want to do. They are well trained in Templemore to police. The role of the Garda Síochána is to be out with the public and interfacing with the community rather than in the courts. I ask for some changes in future legislation.

Will the Minister provide some clarification on the role of county registrars? There may be changes in that area to do with court messengers who work for county registrars and of whom there are approximately 27 throughout the country. There are indications that the role of the court messenger may be changed and the job may be privatised. I ask the Minister to examine any proposed changes to ascertain the cost efficiencies involved before a final decision is taken.

The Bill has enabling provisions to allow the Courts Service to manage the central holding facility for people in custody and to have control over all persons held, including those who have not been committed to prison by the courts. This is a positive proposal as there has been duplication in that area. The vested interests support the changes outlined by the Minister.

I commend this Bill and I am pleased it will have an easy passage through both Houses. I wish the new facility every success. It is a long time since the Four Courts building was constructed and this is the first significant investment in a courthouse in central Dublin since that fine building was constructed.

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