Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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137. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the average waiting times for each probate office to provide a grant of probate and a grant of letters of administration; her views on whether probate offices are providing a timely service in all areas; her further views on whether they have adequate resources and staff to provide a timely and efficient service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34463/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Probate Office is an office of the High Court and management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions under the Courts Service Act 1998. Probate functions are also carried out by County Registrars at District Probate Registries in a number of provincial court offices.

However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the current waiting time for Grants of Representation in Dublin is 20 weeks for applications lodged by a solicitor and 25 weeks for personal applications. Waiting Times in District Probate Registries are set out in the table:

All applications for Grants of Representation in deceased persons' estates are made on foot of a number of mandatory legal documents which must be furnished by the applicants and these require detailed checking by the Probate Office to ensure that the estate of the deceased person is administered correctly and in accordance with the law. All applications are assessed on the basis of the date on which they are lodged, an approach which provides fairness and equity to all applicants.

The backlogs in the probate system are a cause for concern and a review of the probate system is being carried out at present. It is anticipated that a report with recommendations for the modernisation of the process will be presented before the end of 2016 to the Senior Management Team of the Courts Service and to the Courts Service Board for their consideration.

In the meantime, the Courts Service has assigned an additional permanent member of staff to the Probate Office to assist in dealing with the high volume of work of the Office and a further member of staff will be assigned shortly.