Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 382: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he has received the Courts Service work and operational plan for 2011; his views on the effect of that plan on court services throughout the country; and if he will provide same in a tabular form on a county basis; and his plans to close any courthouse or court office during 2011 or 2012. [20762/11]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 383: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if he has received the Courts Service Croke Park agreement implementation plan; his views on the effect of that plan on court services throughout the country; if he will provide same in a tabular form on a county basis; and his plans to close any courthouse or court office during 2011 or 2012 under that plan. [20763/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 382 and 383 together.

Section 7 of the Courts Service Act 1998 requires the Courts Service to submit a strategic plan to my Department every three years. This plan sets out at a high level the strategic approach and aims of the Service and identifies the key challenges and areas of development. It also sets out the outputs and performance indicators required to ensure the implementation of the strategies outlined. The Courts Service is currently preparing its Strategic Plan for the period 2011-2014 which when approved by the Courts Service Board will be submitted to my Department.

There is, however, no requirement for the Courts Service to submit a work or operational plan. The Service operates independently under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, which include, as the Deputy will be aware, the management and administration of the courts and court buildings. Under section 6 of the Act, the Service may do anything necessary or expedient to enable it to perform its functions, including the designation of court venues.

The Courts Service in common with all other public sector organisations is required to achieve improved efficiencies under the Croke Park Agreement and my Department has received a copy of the Courts Service Implementation Plan. Venues in use for court sittings are kept under constant review to ensure that they meet the standards required insofar as this is possible and to ensure that value for money is achieved.

Over the past ten years the Courts Service has amalgamated 120 District Court venues while at the same time, the Service has benefited from a very substantial capital investment of €200 million to upgrade larger courthouses concentrating mainly on County towns. The policy has been very successful resulting in a more efficient use of time for the judiciary, court users and Gardaí. Rather than short sittings in the smaller venues, a full day's list can be dealt with and delays in the District Court have reduced as a result.

At its most recent meeting, the Courts Service Board decided that the court venues listed in table 1 below will be closed - the dates for the closures have yet to be decided.

Table 1

Table 2 below shows the court venues closed to date in 2011.

Table 3 shows the court offices to be closed in 2011 (the District Court will continue to sit in Killarney and Ballinasloe).

The Courts Service has indicated that it is likely some further closures will arise during 2011 and 2012 as a result of the ongoing review.