David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It was a bit of a shock to learn that the Courts Service office in Youghal is to close. I was disappointed that we were not briefed on this by the service. We have had a number of items of correspondence on this matter. One has to do with women who use the Courts Service to get protection orders. I got an email from one particular lady on this recently which I would like to mention for the record. She asked what the woman who cannot afford petrol because her husband controls all of the money is to do. If the Courts Service office in Youghal is closed, the nearest office will be in Cork city, which is an hour away. What about the woman whose husband tracks the kilometres on her car, the woman who has three small kids and no transport, the woman who simply cannot get away for that long without her partner being suspicious, the woman who has no childcare but whose children are old enough to understand what they might hear, the woman who is destroyed with bruises and is ashamed that other people might see, the woman who cannot go home because her partner is there busting up the place, the woman who works Monday to Friday and so on? The woman who sent me this email begs us to keep this service in Youghal open.

There are other reasons as well. This lady says that taking away our clerk's office is taking away the only thing that makes women feel safe in this situation and that there is comfort in knowing that you can go straight to the office and apply for a protection order if you need to. She asks whether these women have not suffered enough and says that not enough noise is being made about this.

There are other issues of concerns in respect of this decision. Gardaí can lodge charge sheets in the court office. If the expected closure goes ahead, this will have to be done in Anglesea Street in Cork city, taking gardaí away from their duties. People who do not have access to online banking pay fines at the court office. Some kind of a temporary arrangement is being talked about. Do the people in Youghal and the surrounding areas have to check for a notice on the door as to whether a court office is available? The current court office allows people to attend with dignity and allows staff to deal with people's issues in a confidential way. If these new proposed plans come into force, people will have to queue up to wait for an opportunity to meet Courts Service staff. We ask that this decision be reversed.

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