Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The purpose of the Bill is to provide for an increase in the maximum number of ordinary judges of the Court of Appeal from nine to 15. I welcome this as the Court of Appeal has a large volume of work. It inherited some of its cases from the Supreme Court and also deals with a large volume of new cases. Before the Court of Appeal was established, the average waiting time for cases to be heard by the Supreme Court had increased to over four years. While it was anticipated that the new Court of Appeal would have a significant impact on waiting times, unfortunately, this did not turn out to be the case. Without additional judges, the Court of Appeal is under severe pressure in dealing with its workload. The current waiting time is 20 months for civil appeals, which is problematic in seeking access to justice.

A man in my constituency in west Cork has been waiting 14 years for justice. In 2005 he attended the Circuit Court after he had been evicted from his family business by the State body Coillte. There was no registrar present in the court. That might appear to be a small matter to the untrained eye, but for the man in question, it cost him justice. He was not allowed to appeal the case to the High Court as it was alleged that he was out of time to lodge an appeal. There was great confusion between solicitors and the Circuit Court office in Cork as to when the Circuit Court orders had been made, but the Circuit Court office agreed with the man's solicitor on when the orders had been made and ordered the State body's solicitors to hand them back for amendment. Lo and behold, they would not hand them back for amendment as ordered by the Circuit Court office. As a result, my constituent lost his right of appeal and his family business because of the wrong dates on the orders. Why did they not consult the alleged registrar who they say was present in the court to inquire about the dates? The Courts Service states there was a registrar present at all hearings, but it cannot prove it. My constituent has written proof that there was no registrar present at any of his hearings, but he will not be given the opportunity to demonstrate this, as no solicitor will take his case for fear of repercussions from the Courts Service. He has proof of this and suffered greatly. There are judgments on all of his property for legal costs as a result of the wrongful administrative duties of the Circuit Court office in Cork, despite the attempts to get at the truth. How can the Minister of State stand by and let a man suffer like this for 14 years? The man in question is simply requesting that the Courts Service produce its proof and the name of the registrar whom it states attended his hearings. He also wants to have the opportunity to produce his evidence. There has been a major miscarriage of justice by the Courts Service. Will the Minister of State give the man in question this right? The Bill seeks to enhance the Courts Service, but how can we enhance it, on the one hand, and, on the other, leave a man on his knees suffering for 14 years with no justice?

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