Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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136. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the extent to which backlogs in the court system are likely to be overtaken in the short and medium term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5718/14]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Courts Service is responsible for the management and administration of the Courts. The scheduling of court cases and the allocation of court business is a matter for the Presidents of the courts and the presiding judge who are under the Constitution independent in the exercise of their judicial functions. The Presidents monitor waiting times across all courts lists and seek to ensure the optimum use of court time. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the primary objective for the Service is to maintain the delivery of front line court sittings and services. The Courts Service continuously works to support the judiciary and assist in ensuring that cases are dealt with as effectively and as speedily as possible. Available resources and operational and organisational structures are under ongoing review to ensure that resources are targeted and focussed on keeping waiting times in the provision of services to a minimum.

I am informed that waiting times in the Circuit and District Courts vary from venue to venue based on the number and complexity of cases. In the District Court there were in excess of 500 additional sitting days and in excess of 700 out of hours court sittings held in 2013. Scheduled sittings of the District Court continued during the months of August and September last year and the President continues to target judicial resources at the areas experiencing longest waiting. In the Circuit Court there were over 80 weeks additional sittings held in 2013. It should be noted that in 2011 there were 674 weeks of sittings in Circuit court venues outside Dublin. This increased to 767 weeks in 2012 and to at least 880 weeks in 2013 – an increase of over 30%.The additional weeks were provided across crime, family law and civil matters.The additional sittings have ensured that waiting times in the Circuit Court have been reduced. In addition, six specialist judges of the Circuit Court were appointed in July 2013 to deal with the new work arising as a result of the Personal Insolvency Act 2012.

I am informed that High Court waiting times also continue to improve. The President of the High Court keeps waiting times under continuous review and has introduced a number of initiatives including the reorganisation of sittings of the High Court outside Dublin and arranging for additional court sittings during court recesses. The delegation to court officials of administrative functions previously dealt with by High Court judges has also yielded significant savings in judicial time resulting in increased judicial availability for trial work. More than 10,000 matters have been dealt with in this way in 2013. These case management initiatives continue to be reviewed and expanded. During September 2013, the President of the High Court scheduled additional sittings with a view to maintaining and reducing waiting times or facilitating urgent hearings. There were 20 additional weeks sittings overall involving a total of 32 Judges and 1,016 orders were made.

In respect of the Court of Criminal Appeal, the Chief Justice, in consultation with the President of the High Court, convened 9 additional sittings during September and the first week of October 2013 to deal with sentence appeals/undue leniency applications. In the Supreme Court there were 3 weeks additional sittings at the end of the summer recess with judges sitting in two panels and following the appointment of two additional Supreme Court Judges in October 2013 the Supreme Court has continued to sit in two panels. While some immediate improvement is anticipated over the coming year, the backlog that has accumulated in the Supreme Court over the past number of years is such that it will take a longer period to reduce the waiting time for the hearing of appeals to a more appropriate level. While considerable efforts are being made to manage the waiting times, the issue of capacity in the Supreme Court can only be fully resolved through the introduction of the Court of Appeal, which is due to be established later this year.