Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State spoke about training for court staff, which is very important because the discrepancy across staff can be immense. Some are very understanding and some are not. That includes judges, solicitors and people working in the Courts Service. In July of last year, the Joint Committee on Justice published a report on courts and courthouses, which covered some of the issues the Minister of State talked about and I welcome that. For example, the JAM card is very important. The early stages of the modernisation programme have prioritised ordinary users of the courts system - those are its words, not mine. Under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities we have to ensure that all people have access to justice and the legal system. Therefore, we have to take into account that some people are vulnerable and need assistance in that.

The Irish Prison Service has been before the Joint Committee on Disability Matters and said there is a quite a high number of people within our prison system who have disabilities, hidden disabilities, are autistic or have mental health issues. It raises questions about whether they should be there. First, had they received proper support in the community they might not be there in the first place. Perhaps some of the issues in the court would have resulted in them being there when they should not be there at all. That is something we have to take into account.

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