Circumstances in the Circuit Court differ from venue to venue. In many venues, cases will be heard at the next available session. As regards the District Court, there is no delay in most districts in cases being brought to hearing. In the Dublin District Court, contested criminal cases take, on average, five months for a hearing. Those figures conceal a delay about which we must be frank. The first available return date for a summons is frequently months away. In this context, I reiterate what I told the House on a previous occasion. For public order offences and offences of minor violence, especially in the case of young offenders, to allow a long period to elapse between the detection and apprehension and prosecution is to devalue the immediacy and sense of proportionately and responsiveness of the criminal legal justice system. This is a matter that worries me.