John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I thank Senator Ó Domhnaill for raising this issue. The Minister assures the Senator and the House that he appreciates the importance of adequately resourcing the courts system in County Donegal and elsewhere. The question of additional judicial resources in the northern circuit or in the Donegal district is, however, a matter for consideration by the presidents of the Circuit Court and District Court, respectively. The Minister will be guided by the presidents of the courts as to the need for additional permanently assigned judges.

The presidents of both the District Court and the Circuit Court have at their disposal unassigned judges who can be used to assist the permanently assigned judges where pressure of work demands. As the Senator will be aware, 14 additional judges were appointed within recent months. Of these, five were appointed to the Circuit Court while six were appointed to the District Court. These additional judicial resources will have a significant and positive impact on court delays in County Donegal and elsewhere.

In the Circuit Court, other than in Dublin and Cork, one judge is assigned permanently to each circuit. The northern circuit covers the counties of Cavan, Monaghan, Leitrim and Donegal. If additional sittings are required in any of these locations, the relevant county registrar contacts the President of the Circuit Court who has responsibility for assignment of judges. The president has given priority in the current year to clearing backlogs in criminal work in circuits throughout the country. Criminal work must be prioritised as defendants, especially those who are in custody, may be found not guilty. In particular, efforts have been made to clear outstanding long trials, which cannot be accommodated in the normal court lists. In the current term, an additional ten weeks of sittings have been allocated by the President of the Circuit Court to the northern circuit. County Donegal was given six additional weeks, while Carrick-on-Shannon and Monaghan each have had two additional weeks of sittings.

In the District Court, many additional court sittings have been organised by the President of the District Court and waiting times have been substantially reduced. Last year, the President of the District Court made arrangements for 112 additional sittings in Donegal, which greatly reduced the backlog that then existed. The situation in Donegal, as in all circuits and districts, is kept under constant review and the presidents of the relevant courts allocate additional resources as necessary.

The Minister has been informed that waiting times in Donegal District Court are generally less than six months for cases other than family law cases. As regards the latter, delays are approximately six months. As the Senator will appreciate, individual cases sometimes will have longer waiting periods for reasons not within the control of the Courts Service, such as adjournment applications from parties to the case.