John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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638. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the reason for significant delays in the probate system; the steps he will take to address these delays to ensure that probate can be processed in no more than a few months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38199/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, 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 14 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 a Grant of Representation in the Dublin Probate Office has been reduced to 15 weeks for applications lodged by a solicitor (90% of applications are made via this route) and 28 weeks for personal applications. This has been achieved by a review of business processes within the office and an extra Executive Officer and Higher Executive Officer being assigned to the office. 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. Priority is given to probate applications where there is a particular urgency or in extenuating circumstances. In such cases, it is open to applicants to bring the matter to the attention of the Probate Office.

Probate applications are also processed at 14 District Probate Registries and waiting times vary across the Registries due to the volume of applications received and the skill sets and operational priorities within the offices. Again, priority is given to probate applications where there is a particular urgency or in extenuating circumstances. In such cases, it is open to applicants to bring the matter to the attention of the District Probate Registry.

The Courts Service has advised that backlogs in the probate system are a cause for concern and that 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 completed by the end of 2017 for presentation to the Senior Management Team of the Courts Service and to the Courts Service Board which should further assist in improving waiting times.