Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator for raising this matter. The Minister sends his apologies. Unfortunately, he is in Brussels at a European Affairs Ministers' meeting so he cannot be here. He asked me to take this matter on his behalf.

In relation to court sittings at Harristown courtroom, which is what it is known as at Castlerea Prison, the Courts Service has advised that there has been no change to the scheduled sittings taking place in that location. The court is scheduled to sit on the fourth Friday of each month, which it continues to do. During 2024, the court sat on 46 occasions and to date in 2025, the court has sat on 34 occasions.

Where the District Court sitting at Harristown is dealing with remands from other districts, pursuant to section 5 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997, it should be noted that it has no jurisdiction to finalise the charges or hear the trial, and the matter must be remanded back to the originating court for trial or sentence. Physical attendance for remands, rather than appearance by videolink, is a matter for the Judiciary and is subject to section 23 of the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020.

The Courts Service has made inquiries in relation to remands in Letterkenny District Court and has confirmed that videolink is the default position for any remand unless the judge directs otherwise. The Minister is prioritising efforts to ensure that the courts are adequately resourced to administer justice efficiently and effectively just as the Senator articulated in his contribution.

This past year marks the full calendar year of supporting a significantly enlarged Judiciary and court operations in the wake of the 2023 publication of the Report of the Judicial Planning Working Group and the appointment of 24 additional judges. Following an impact assessment of the first phase of judicial appointments following the publication of the Report of the Judicial Planning Working Group, Government approval was secured on 22 October 2024 to increase judicial numbers by a further 20 judges to meet the growing demands on the justice system and to further reduce long waiting times across the courts. The Minister intends to request the Judicial Appointments Commission to initiate the selection processes for these judges later this year. Taken together, these two sets of appointments represent an increase of approximately 25% in the number of judges in Ireland. This year, the Courts Service was allocated a budget of over €199.8 million, with additional funding to allocate to provide for the recruitment of additional staff to support the expanding Judiciary and bolster modernising measures.