Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response but must highlight that, from what I have witnessed, delays can be from 11 to 12 weeks for some personal applications in Castlebar. The probate officer retired last October and was replaced only in the past few weeks. Therefore, there are genuine concerns. The matter is causing considerable stress among solicitors and their clients, who are waiting for weeks on end to have applications processed. I ask that we be swifter in resourcing our public appointments system to resource our probate offices. They are really important. Applications are currently being sent to Dublin from Castlebar, which is unacceptable. We need to reverse the trend and ensure probate can be processed swiftly.

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