Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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It is a priority for my Department to ensure that the courts are resourced to administer justice efficiently and effectively. To ensure the sufficient resourcing of all courts, Government committed to a historic increase in the number of judges in February 2023, following the publication of the Judicial Planning Working Group report.

The current legislative provision is for 197 judicial posts. As of 18 April 2024, there are two vacancies to be filled in the Circuit Court and one vacancy in the Court of Appeal. Work is under way to fill these vacancies as soon as possible. There are no vacancies in the District Court or High Court.

The Report of the Judicial Planning Working Group recommended that 44 additional judges should be appointed in two phases to address existing backlogs and reduce excessive waiting times across all court jurisdictions. In addition, the Working Group recommended a range of measures to ensure the more efficient use of judicial resources already in place.

A first tranche of 24 additional judges was approved and subsequently appointed by Government in 2023 which included 8 additional District Court, 8 additional Circuit Court, 6 additional High Court and 2 additional Court of Appeal judges. The report recommends that the second tranche of another 20 extra judges, which would include 6 additional District Court, 6 additional Circuit Court, 6 additional High Court and 2 additional Court of Appeal judges, should be put in place subject to an assessment of the impact of the first tranche on court business.

Work is currently under way to conduct the impact assessment and an Implementation Steering Group is progressing the implementation of the report’s other recommendations. The report outlines that the indicators monitored as part of the impact assessment should be capable of capturing improvements in efficiency and effectiveness and have regard to increased caseloads, changing demographics, economic conditions, and the impact of new legislation as well as improvements from the implementation of modernisation measures.