Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am committed, as is the Government, to ensuring adequate resources for the courts to maintain access to justice for all citizens, not just throughout this pandemic but at all times. This commitment was reinforced recently with the highest ever budgetary allocation for the justice sector, including €158.8 million for the Courts Service. This included €8 million for the new courts modernisation programme along with an additional provision of €5.7 million for Covid measures to enable court sittings to take place in a socially distanced and safe environment. A significant priority for my Department and the Courts Service in the years ahead will be to invest significantly in digital technology in order to transform the experience of practitioners and court users.

Furthermore, the July stimulus package had previously assigned €5 million to the Courts Service, with €1.7 million of the funds to be invested before year end in ICT to install video technology systems to support the holding of remote court proceedings. As of 27 November 2020, 1,941 hearings have been conducted remotely across all jurisdictions and, thankfully, this will continue to increase.

The Government endeavours to ensure that courts continue to operate as effectively and as efficiently as possible. My Department is in constant contact with the Courts Service. We have maintained a schedule of regular interactions with the service throughout the pandemic to try to support it in addressing the issues the Deputy has outlined that have arisen during this crisis, including where backlogs have arisen.

I am pleased that, even during the first period of the pandemic, the courts continued to sit on priority matters in the areas of family law and criminal matters, especially cases involving people in custody, bail, urgent injunctions and domestic violence. In past weeks, even though the entire country was under level 5 lockdown restrictions, the courts remained open and dealt with a wider level of business.

Meanwhile, the Courts Service continues to work with the Judiciary to prioritise business and the holding of court proceedings to address areas of concern. The Courts Service has shown impressive innovation and adaptability during the Covid-19 pandemic and in maintaining vital front-line services for those who need them, including the most vulnerable victims of domestic abuse, as I mentioned.

There are plans to install remote hearing equipment in 43 more courtrooms over the next few months and to bring even further venues on stream, which will enable more cases to be heard in a safe manner and further reduce backlogs. The ultimate aim is to reduce the backlog levels to pre-Covid numbers.

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