Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy David Stanton, for coming to the House to deal with this matter. The issue I am raising relates to the legislation passed by both Houses on the restructuring of the adjudication system for the taxation of costs where agreement cannot be reached between a party which has succeeded in a case and a party which has lost.

There were two Taxing Masters in the High Court. My understanding is that one of those Taxing Masters has not been reappointed as her contract was for a period of five years. There is now only one Taxing Master dealing with the adjudication of High Court and Supreme Court costs for the entire country. That is not adequate.

Will the appropriate commencement notice be put in place to ensure the structure for the adjudication of costs is established and they are dealt with in a speedy manner? Several legal colleagues dealing with Departments on the other side of cases have come to me because they are finding substantial delays in dealing with the issues of costs. I am disappointed by this when one considers we insist private sector bills are paid within a timeframe of not more than 60 days, yet these issues with Departments are dragging on for 12 months and 18 months. There is no procedure for dealing with it other than we now have only one Taxing Master.

That is the reason I have been asked by colleagues to raise this matter. It is an important matter that we should deal with at the earliest possible date.