Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Hopefully Deputy Connolly will be in before I am finished. If not, maybe she can go after somebody else.

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I welcome the Bill’s intention to lift the cap on the number of judges in Ireland and to appoint 24 additional judges, which would bring the number of judges in Ireland from 173 to 194. A recent report published by the European Commission shows that Ireland’s spending on courts and prosecution services lagged behind the European median figures significantly. It found that Ireland had the lowest figure in terms of judges per 100,000 people, at just 3.27, well below the median of 17.6. It also showed that Ireland had the lowest number of public prosecutors, just 2.6 per 100,000, compared with the European median figure of 11.1. This shows a need for increased investment in judicial resources and so I welcome the appointment of additional judges by the end of the year and the possibility of more being appointed next year.

I am glad that the Minister of State recognises that timely access to justice is of central importance to society. Competent and modern courts are essential to any democracy and the current backlog of cases as a result of Covid-19 is not acceptable. At the moment there remains a backlog of 66,000 summonses in the Irish courts. As the Law Society of Ireland outlines:

Delayed court sittings cause real-life consequences, at a time when many are in vulnerable situations. These backlogs delay justice for citizens and justice delayed is justice denied.

A properly functioning judicial system and properly resourced courts are extremely important. We need to ensure that our citizens have reasonable access to justice, but unfortunately the current judicial numbers do not allow for this. The appointment of more judges will go a long way to ensuring better access, but 24 is not nearly enough and so I would urge the Minister of State to ensure more appointments are made in the near future.

However, I also believe it is not enough to merely appoint more judges; we need to ensure our judicial membership is inclusive and intersectional. The European Commission report showed that the percentage of female judges in Ireland in 2020 was significantly lower than the EU average of 56%, with just 39% of judges in Ireland being female. It also showed a significant under-representation of women in the highest roles within the judicial system. Unfortunately, the research did not look at the under-representation of minority groups but we do not need a report to tell us that there is a severe lack of judges from minority backgrounds. Our judges should reflect our society and so this legislation is a missed opportunity to address issues of under-representation, of women and of minority groups. I hope that the Minister of State will consider addressing issues of under-representation in upcoming legislation. We need to ensure sufficient diversity of judges to help to counteract unconscious bias from developing and to promote inclusion within the Irish courts.

While I support this Bill, I would question - and maybe the Minister of State can respond to me on this - why legislation is required every time there is an increase in the appointments of judges. This slows down the appointments process significantly, at a time when an increase is extremely necessary and well overdue. I know there is an intention to bring in further legislation next year, which seems unnecessary to me. I would like to know why the Minister of State has not included the total increase necessary under this legislation. The Minister of State said in his opening statement that the working group recommended that a phased approach be taken to address judicial resourcing, but what is the reason for this, especially given that it requires legislation every time? In reality, with the best will in the world, it will take at least a year for legislation to be prepared, go through the process, go through all the Houses, get passed and have judges appointed. It will take at least that length of time.

When Deputy Jim O’Callaghan was speaking, he emphasised the importance of the Judiciary under our Constitution. It is true that the Legislature, the Government and the courts are the three arms of our State. Maybe this is a cynical view but it seems to me that the Legislature has taken the view that it controls the courts by making sure it restricts the number of judges and restricts the ability of the courts to function. It makes sure it controls the courts in that way so they will not step out of line. The Minister of State will tell me I am being cynical about this but you have to look at the process involved in appointing more judges. That it has to go through the legislative process seems crazy to me. If you look at the number of judges per head of population we have, it explains a lot about why our judicial system does not work that well.

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