Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All the issues mentioned by the Deputy were raised by me some time ago in an official meeting with representatives of the Courts Service. It operates independently and makes independent decisions, but I am entitled to meet its representatives. It is not for me as the Minister to determine which courthouses should remain open, but those decisions will be made. I have emphasised that it is terribly important that in making these assessments, the totality of the cost implications would be taken into account. The issue could not be viewed simply from the perspective of the Courts Service budget or Estimate.

It is vital there is joined up thinking and synergy in what is going on, especially when dealing with stakeholders. The Courts Service must engage with An Garda Síochána if, for example, there is a proposal to close a particular courthouse. The impact on manpower and availability of gardaí in a local community when a court might be sitting elsewhere must be considered, along with costing of Garda time if personnel attend at one location rather than another. There are other consequent issues that may arise.

An unseen piece of the jigsaw is the cost in court staff in locations that are open very rarely. One must consider the travel time involved, the moving of files and documentation and the efficiencies with which the Judiciary could administer justice in a court that might only have a limited number of hearings, as opposed to a court where there are a larger number of cases. The public may be better served and issues awaiting attention in the courts would be dealt with more efficiently and quickly.

Many people seek remedies in small and occasional District Court sittings, and if those people were told they could travel ten or 15 miles but that the case would be dealt with three months sooner, they would welcome it. Those at the receiving end of a criminal prosecution may want to kick the can up the road in that respect. A civil application to recover a small debt or a family law application in the District Court - for example, a dependent wife and child awaiting a maintenance order - could be dealt with more quickly if a couple of court locations were amalgamated. Instead of waiting three or four months for a hearing, the people in question would only have to wait four or five weeks, and most people would go for that option.

There is also the issue of cost in the context of the legal profession. As a member of that profession, I know that with some of the smaller courts there can be a reasonable assurance that practitioners are equally likely to be attending courts in other locations in Cork, for example, to represent clients. They would not be unduly burdened by having to move to a different District Court location.

As I understand it from the Courts Service, these locations are being reviewed, and it is not a given that from those reviews the courts under examination will close. It is important that this be considered in a comprehensive way. There is, nevertheless, an inevitability that there will be further closures to bring about consolidation and to use public resources more effectively. We must also bring efficiencies to the manner in which the courts operate.

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