Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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531. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the steps that can be taken to improve waiting times for the hearing of family law cases before Wexford District Court; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54775/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions. Furthermore, the scheduling of court cases and the allocation of court business is a matter the President of the District Court and the presiding judge who are, under the constitution, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions.

However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had inquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the President of the District Court monitors waiting times and workload across all court lists and seeks to ensure the optimum use of court time and judicial resources. Wherever possible, the President targets additional judicial resources at the areas of greatest need.

I am also informed that Wexford District Court hears family law applications on two dedicated days each month (second Monday and fourth Tuesday). There are also two dedicated days per month for the hearing of family law matters in Gorey District Court. In addition to these dedicated days, another day at the end of the month is available for hearings which are not reached on the normal family law court days. Special hearing days are also provided where deemed appropriate, especially for cases which may take some time to deal with.

Emergency Applications such as Protection Orders are prioritised and are listed for hearing at the next court sitting day regardless of whether it is a dedicated family law day or not. Such applications are usually granted where the Court so decides on the date the application is made to the Court. Typically interim barring orders, which are also an emergency application, are also made ex parte and granted on the date of application. There are, therefore, no delays in dealing with such applications in either Wexford or Gorey District Courts.

Barring Order and Safety Order applications are listed for the next dedicated family law day in both Wexford and Gorey District Courts and are allocated priority in the family law list for that dedicated day and it can reasonably be anticipated that such applications will be listed for hearing within 4 weeks of the date of application. 

With regard to Guardianship or Maintenance applications the waiting time to get into Court is 6 to 8 weeks. Any applications requesting dates currently, unless they are urgent, are being assigned dates in February 2018.

The Courts Service has advised that delays in the hearing of cases can be impacted by a number of factors, many of which are outside the control of the courts and the Courts Service, for example, the unavailability of a witness or vital evidence, delays in the furnishing of reports or because the parties and/or legal practitioners are not ready to proceed on allocated dates. This gives rise to adjournments, which can have an impact on the time taken to complete the hearing of a case and on the number of cases which can be disposed of in a court sitting.

The Courts Service continues to work with the Presidents and the Judiciary to ensure waiting times are kept to a minimum and, where specific issues are identified, resources are targeted at areas of greatest need.