Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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57. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of county registrars currently serving; the way in which that compares to historic levels. [7551/23]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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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.

The Courts Service Act 1998 sets out the nature of the relationship between the Courts Service and the County Registrar. The post of County Registrar is a statutory officer appointed by the Government, with a number of different roles, including under-sheriff and returning officer functions. When such posts become vacant, arrangements are made with the Courts Service and the Public Appointments Service to run an open recruitment competition to identify suitable persons for recommendation to Government for appointment.

The legislation governing the appointment of County Registrars provides for up to twenty-six County Registrars, each assigned to a County. Following an expenditure review conducted across the public service in 2009, the number of serving County Registrars was reduced on a phased basis to 16. This reduction was made possible by reorganising the work of the courts including the establishment of combined court offices, which encompassed the transfer of management functions previously exercised by County Registrars to Courts Service management personnel. In 2017, an additional County Registrar position was created for Counties Meath and Westmeath which brought the number of serving County Registrars to 17.

Having enquired into the matter, I can confirm that there are 14 serving county registrars serving, with 3 vacancies currently outstanding in Louth, Mayo/Roscommon and Waterford. Recruitment competitions are currently either ongoing or in the planning stage for the 3 vacant positions. Further information on such competitions is available on www.publicjobs.ie.