Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Cathaoirleach for the opportunity to raise this matter. I refer to the need for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to appoint a second permanent District Court judge and the allocation of a second permanent judge to County Donegal to reduce the existing waiting times and backlog in the northern Circuit and District Court services.

The Donegal Bar Association has consistently raised this issue for many years and in recent months in particular. The president of the association has outlined clearly the existence of a large backlog in the Circuit Court and District Court services in County Donegal. Both the president and the Donegal Bar Association have called clearly for the additional resources that are required to deal with the backlog.

A recent meeting held in Letterkenny courthouse in November was attended by all the principal users of the court. The meeting was attended by the county registrar, the District Court clerks of Letterkenny and Donegal town, as well as other court users.

According to information I have received from the Donegal Bar Association, the situation has not improved during 2007. It is clear to the association that its proposal of a second permanent District Court judge and the allocation of a second permanent judge to the northern circuit would go a long way towards addressing the present backlog. In its view, visiting judges for special sittings cannot deal adequately with cases that last more than one day. For example, I refer to cases involving family law, child care or land disputes, all of which constitute highly sensitive legal situations. It is important they would be dealt with in a prompt and timely manner.

In 2007, the scheduled sittings provided for a total of 63 days in the Donegal district. I understand from information given to me by the Donegal Bar Association that the allocation for 2008 has been reduced to 56 days.

I call for the early implementation of the recommendations to appoint a second District Court judge, as well as the allocation of a second permanent judge in County Donegal. This would relieve greatly the current stress that is on the system, would facilitate those families waiting for their sensitive cases to be heard and would reduce the backlog.

On the last day on which he presided in Letterkenny District Court, John O'Donnell, who was a District Court judge in Donegal, made one recommendation. Having noted that the Donegal District Court was much too large for a single judge to preside over, he called for the Courts Service to carry out an immediate audit of the existing services in County Donegal. As a worst case scenario, if the judges cannot be put in place immediately, I call on the Minister to carry out such an audit. The intervention of the Minister is required to provide those citizens of County Donegal who bring forward cases with the facility to have them heard in a prompt and timely manner.