Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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.

The legislation governing 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. There are currently 15 County Registrars with two vacant positions which will be filled in due course following the results of an open selection process run by the Public Appointments Service (PAS).

The Donegal County Registrar also has responsibility for Sligo. There are no plans at this time to expand the number of County Registrars.