Written answers

Thursday, 10 December 2020

Department of Justice and Equality

Courts Service

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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23. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of cases waiting to be heard by the various courts serving Cork on 4 December 2020, in tabular form; the same for 4 December 2019; the measures being undertaken to address the backlog of cases; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42352/20]

Photo of Helen McEnteeHelen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts, including the provision of accommodation for court sittings, is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made regarding the cases in Cork city and county. The Courts Service has provided information in tabular format as requested, which I shall make available to the Deputy.

The number of cases waiting to be heard by the various courts serving Cork on 4 December 2020, in tabular form

The Courts Service has advised that in the time available, it is unfortunately not possible to collate all of the information sought by the Deputy. In addition, some of the Courts Service’s systems do not allow a collation of information for specific dates such as 4 December or retrospectively back to 2019. However, in order to be helpful to the Deputy, the Courts Service have advised the following which is based on data collated at intervals by the Courts Service throughout the year.

In relation to the Circuit Court,Cork Circuit Court had at 4 December 2020:

Type of Business Number of cases on hand
Circuit Family Court hearings 140 cases listed for hearing
Circuit Civil Court hearings 750 cases listed for hearing
Circuit Criminal Court Trials 133 trials listed and 77 for sentencing

The Courts Service’s systems do not allow it to measure the numbers of cases on hand for hearing this time last year. However, the data collated shows that at the end of Q3 2020, there has been a 64% reduction in the numbers of civil cases disposed of and 14% reduction in the numbers of family law cases disposed of when compared with the same period in 2019.

The data in relation to the District Courtis measured differently:

Location Criminal (Summonses Cases) Awaiting Hearing Family Law Cases

Awaiting Hearing
Civil Cases

Awaiting Hearing
Cork 10,031 803 225
Clonakilty 2117 98 19
Mallow 3106 176 55
Youghal 323 14 5

The public health guidelines limit the numbers of people who can circulate in indoor venues and court buildings are no exception to this. In addition to enhanced cleaning, people traffic management and sanitisation facilities, arrangements have been put in place to ensure social distancing in courthouses to ensure public safety. In order to manage the numbers of people attending courthouses, court lists have been staggered to prevent overcrowding. The net effect is that regretfully fewer cases can be listed every day to ensure that maximum attendance levels in courthouses are not exceeded.

Throughout the COVID-19 period, the Courts Service along with the President of the District Court has been prioritising criminal and urgent family law matters.

The Courts Service has been working to add capacity to the system. The Government’s stimulus package assigned €5m to the Courts Service, which has been used to lease extra facilities to conduct court hearings and for jury empanelment. In addition, the additional funding has been used to install additional video technology facilities to facilitate remote court sittings. I am advised that the remote court facilities using video technology installed in Cork has been used 35 times since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and has been most frequently used since the start of October.  €5.7 million of additional funding was provided in the Budget for the Courts Service, including for additional premises  in Dublin and regional locations to enable court sittings to take place in a socially distanced and safe environment.

The Courts Service has also been working with Judges to arrange additional sittings, hold callovers of cases and other initiatives to help mitigate the effect of any arrears that have developed.

Circuit Criminal Court Trials began in Cork for the week beginning 30th November 2020.  The Court Service continues to make progress and to adjust their plans in line with emerging developments with the overall aim being to work towards getting back to waiting times that are better than pre-Covid levels in due course.

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