Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Ward for the practical and important points he has made on this issue. I convey the apologies of my colleague, the Minster for Justice, Deputy Harris, who regrets that he cannot be here due to another commitment. He assures the Senator that it is a priority for the Government to resource the courts to administer justice efficiently and effectively for members of the public in all areas of law. As the Senator is aware, management of the courts, including operational and logistical functions, is the responsibility of the Judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and in accordance with the separation of powers in the Constitution.I assure the Senator that it is a priority for Government to resource the courts to administer justice efficiently and effectively for members of the public in their access to justice in all areas of law.

The final report of the judicial planning working group, which was established to consider the number and type of judges required to ensure the efficient administration of justice over the next five years, was published on 27 February 2023. Officials in the Department of Justice are in the process of establishing an implementation programme to oversee the delivery of the recommendations. Based on these recommendations, an additional 24 judges were approved by Government on 21 February for appointment in 2023, with a further recommendation of 20 more judges following the implementation of reforms and efficiencies. Three of these appointments have already been made and I am glad to say the Government made two further nominations this week.

The Department of Justice is committed to driving the modernisation and digital first agenda across the entire justice sector and this is reflected in the additional funding of €2.5 million provided in budget 2023 for the courts modernisation programme. This builds on significant investment in recent years. The Courts Service modernisation programme is the ten-year programme that will deliver a new operating model for the Courts Service, designed around the user with simplified and standardised services and accessible data to inform decisions all delivered through digital solutions.

The Minister particularly welcomes the commitment set out by the Courts Service Corporate Strategic Plan 2021-2023 to maximise the use of digital technologies to provide an improved and user-centred service. This commitment is integral to making our justice system work better for everyone by improving systems and increasing efficiencies. Towards the end of 2020, the Courts Service committed an investment in excess of €2.2 million to expand the number of courtrooms that are technology enabled. These courtrooms support remote and hybrid hearings and allow parties, witnesses, prisoners or members of An Garda Síochána to dial in remotely to a physical courtroom and support digital evidence display. The project brought the number of up-to-date technology courtrooms from 55 in 2020 to 120 at the end of 2022. Investment is committed to continuing the expansion of technology enabled courts over 2023 and 2024.

In April 2022, the courts modernisation programme approved an additional investment of €3.1 million for a three-year programme to provide 54 more video technology enabled courtrooms. These modernisation initiatives and investments will complement a range of other important strategic developments aimed at improving access to justice. These include the first national family justice strategy and the civil justice efficiencies and reform implementation plan.