Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe. I acknowledge the presence in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery of the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Brendan Smith, to whom this matter will be of interest.

This issue relates to the Donegal Bar Association's call for the appointment of a District Court judge in Donegal and of an additional Circuit Court judge for the region that comprises Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal. This matter has been a major bone of contention for those involved in the legal profession in Donegal for a considerable period and has led to great difficulties in the context of expediting cases. In addition, it has led to problems for those involved in the cases to which I refer, particularly those that relate to family law. The latter involve a great deal of trauma and emotional upheaval. The complications and procrastination relating to the failure to appoint a District Court judge for Donegal have caused a considerable backlog and substantial delays. There have been some instances of divorce cases being placed on the long finger for three years as a result of the situation in Donegal.

Counties Cavan and Monaghan each have a District Court judge. There is one District Court judge to deal with the entire county of Donegal. From anecdotal evidence with which I was supplied prior to entering the Chamber, I understand that Donegal had two District Court judges in the 1950s.

Solicitors in Donegal state that the situation is becoming extremely intolerable. In an unprecedented move, they have taken it upon themselves to highlight this matter at a political level. I hope the Minister of State's reply will not indicate that this is a matter for the Courts Service. In my opinion, that is not the case. This decision relates to resources and there is a need to appoint a permanent District Court judge in Donegal and to appoint a Circuit Court judge in the northern region. The population of Donegal is more than 140,000. In light of the number of cases that might arise, the level of work with which one District Court judge and one Circuit Court judge would have to deal could be considerable.

An additional factor of which cognisance must be taken is that many Circuit Court and District Court cases involve people from across the Border. It is not good enough that these individuals are not included in the equation when resources are being provided in respect of the counties to which I refer. It is unacceptable that a perception is being created that judges are not dealing with cases involving people from across the Border because that is clearly not the position.

The courts cannot cope with the backlog of cases with which they must deal and people involved in such cases cannot cope with the delays. Litigation costs rise as time passes and what is happening in Donegal and on the northern circuit will cost more money in the long term.

I hope the Minister of State's reply will be positive, particularly in the context of indicating a willingness to address the major problems that exist on the northern circuit and in County Donegal. I look forward to his reply and I hope we will continue to work together to try to removing the backlog that exists. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform should heed the calls from people who are calling for the immediate appointment of a second District Court judge for Donegal and an additional Circuit Court judge for the northern region.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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On behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Michael McDowell, I thank Senator McHugh for raising this important issue. I hope what I have to say will be positive in terms of addressing the issues he raised.

The Tánaiste has asked me to assure the Senator and the House of the importance he places on adequately resourcing the judicial system. In this regard, he was very pleased to announce yesterday that he has secured Government approval to bring forward legislation for the appointment of nine additional judges. Two of these judges are to be assigned to the High Court, two to the Circuit Court and five to the District Court. The additional judges are being appointed to deal with delays and to generally speed up the judicial process. Legislation providing for the additional judges will be enacted as soon as possible. The Tánaiste is confident that these additional judges will go a long way to ensuring the efficient functioning of our courts system and will, in particular, address the problem of delays at all levels of the system nationwide.

With regard to the Circuit Court in Donegal, I can inform the House that Judge John O'Hagan was assigned to the northern circuit with effect from 24 July this year. There is, therefore, no vacancy on the northern circuit at present. The Tánaiste understands that the level of delays in criminal matters on the northern circuit is significantly lower than at many other venues throughout the country. Despite this, however, five weeks of additional sittings were allocated to the northern circuit in the current term alone in order to deal with lengthy criminal trials in Carrick-on-Shannon and Monaghan. Waiting times for family law and civil cases on the northern circuit also compare favourably with other venues around the country.

There is a vacancy in the Donegal district arising from the retirement of Judge O'Donnell last September. The Senator will be aware that three new judges of the District Court were appointed by the President last week and were subsequently sworn in by the Chief Justice on Tuesday. The Tánaiste wishes to assure the Senator that he will very shortly request the Government to assign judges to fill vacancies in a number of court districts, including Donegal.

On foot of representations he received, the Tánaiste raised the situation in Donegal with the Courts Service. He has been advised that the District Court committee of the Courts Service Board has examined the need for the reorganisation of district No. 1, which covers Donegal, but has decided against recommending any change at present.

The question of the need for additional judicial resources on the northern circuit or in the Donegal district is, in the first instance, a matter for consideration by the presidents of the Circuit Court and the District Court. The latter have at their disposal numbers of unassigned judges who can be used, inter alia, to assist permanently assigned judges where pressure of work demands. In this regard, I understand that, last year, 90 extra court sittings were organised in Donegal by the president of the District Court in an effort to tackle delays as they became apparent. The previous year, the president made arrangements for 112 extra sittings and a total of 1,139 cases were disposed of. This greatly reduced the backlog. The President of the District Court will, no doubt, continue to assign additional judges to Donegal as the need arises. The Presidents of the Courts and the Courts Service will guide the Tánaiste on the need for additional permanently assigned judges.

The Tánaiste understands that while the courthouse in Letterkenny is generally in good condition, it is accepted that the space and facilities are not available on busy court days to meet current requirements. A new courthouse for Letterkenny is included in the €50 million package of new court facilities to be provided by way of a public private partnership. This project is being progressed by the Courts Service. Last year, an impressive new courthouse was opened in Ballyshannon which represented a significant improvement on the previous temporary court facilities in the town.

Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response but it is evident that there is no will to change the situation. Extra judges are deployed to Donegal and there are extra sittings but these will not solve the problem, clear the backlog or relieve the trauma experienced by many clients in family law cases.

Who is responsible for this? On the one hand, the Bar Council says it needs extra resources, while on the other, the eminent Judge Fitzpatrick has said publicly that Donegal is a forgotten county. Between them are the suffering clients. Will the Minister of State intervene? This response is not intervention. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is taking no responsibility. He can delegate it to the Courts Service and say the decision rests there, but he deploys the resources. I want the Minister of State to intervene directly to eradicate the problems in the northern circuit and in County Donegal.

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Senator's response is disappointing. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has assigned nine new judges to the system to deal with any delays. The President of the District Court, having reviewed the situation in Donegal——

Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)
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How many of those nine will be assigned to the northern circuit?

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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——has advised the Minister that there should not be any delay. The Minister and the Courts Service have to deal with 1,139 extra cases to reduce the backlog.

Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)
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The Minister of State should not be getting up on his high horse. No extra judges are going to Donegal.