John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter which pertains to the location and suitability of Portlaoise Courthouse. It was built in 1782. While I am all for historic buildings to be put to good use and good purpose, in terms of having a viable, modern courthouse, this building is well past its sell-by date. Its location in the context of modern Ireland is absurd. It is on the main street of Portlaoise, which would be tantamount to having a courthouse in the middle of Grafton Street in Dublin. It is not fair on business or on the Courts Service and the people who work there. The Prison Service has a serious problem with it in terms of security, parking and safety, as do the Garda authorities. All the stakeholders would like to see the courthouse relocated and reappointed to a purpose-built building that would be more appropriate to its use.

Another factor is that the courthouse used to be the companion building to the former Marlborough jail which was closed in 1830. The courthouse was in that kind of use dating back to that time. In 1982, a colleague of the Minister of State, Councillor Tom Keenan of Fine Gael, had the foresight to relocate the civic offices, the Laois County Council offices, from the courthouse building to a new modern purpose built complex in county hall. The relocation of Portlaoise courthouse is long overdue, bearing in mind that it no longer only runs the business of court in Portlaoise due to rationalisation of the Courts Service.

I am opposed not to the rationalisation of the Courts Service but to the closure of small rural courthouses such as those in Birr and Edenderry. As a journalist, I covered proceedings in the courthouses in Abbeyleix, Mountmellick, Portarlington and Rathdowney. All of these courthouses have since been amalgamated and centralised in Portlaoise which also houses the Circuit Court. Because of its close location to two high security prisons, there are often high profile cases in Portlaoise courthouse. When this happens, the entire main street is blocked with Garda and prison vehicles and people attending the courts by whom senior citizens and other people going about their business often feel intimidated. The situation is no longer tenable. I urge the Minister of State, Deputy Perry, to impression upon the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, the need for investment by the Courts Service in a modern courthouse in Portlaoise, in a building which is fit for purpose and not located on the Main Street of the town. The current situation is absurd.