Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate all of that, but at the same time, we have to recognise that the shortage of judges is having an impact not just on the number of cases going through the courts, but on the full utilisation of the services we have. For instance, there are new court buildings that were established a number of years ago in Limerick. Most of the time, half of the courts there are not being used. Yet, people are travelling to Dublin to access court services there. They are getting on the train, leaving Limerick and going to Dublin. Witnesses and victims of crime are having to do that when adequate facilities are in place in their own city to provide services. That situation is replicated in many areas around the country. I am told that a lot of that is because the judges do not want to travel from where they are based and because of the shortages. There are issues around that. I respect the Minister's commitment to address this issue, but we have not seen the value of it yet. We have not seen it delivered. We need to see that delivery and we need to see it very fast.

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