Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1610.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of District Court judges at present, broken down by gender; the steps being taken to ensure gender balance in the District Court system through the appointment of judges; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33724/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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There are currently 70 judges appointed to the District Court, 32 of whom are female and 38 of whom are male. As at 19 July, there are two vacancies in the court and my Department is working to fill both of these vacancies.

I can further inform the Deputy that the Courts Service of Ireland publishes a list of current judges of the District Court and all other jurisdictions, which is available on Courts.ie:

Upon its full commencement, the new judicial appointments process under the Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2023 will help to ensure the gender balance and further increase diversity across the highest legal offices of the State.

The Act will reform the system of judicial appointment in Ireland. It will establish a new, independent Judicial Appointments Commission to select and recommend persons for judicial office in Ireland and in the EU and international courts.

The Act includes a provision for the Commission to publish a Diversity statement relating to the objective that membership of the judiciary should reflect the diversity of the population as a whole.

The Act also provides that, to the extent feasible, recommendations for appointment as judges should have regard to the objective of having equal numbers of women and men as members of the judiciary.

Work to establish the Judicial Appointments Commission is currently under way and it is envisaged that the Commission will be established later this year.

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1611.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the steps she is taking to ensure sufficient judges are appointed to the District Courts who have a diploma or other qualification in ‘assisted capacity’, to ensure a smooth implementation of the new assisted capacity legislation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33725/24]

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. The Government endeavours to fill judicial vacancies at the earliest opportunity.

Following the publication in February 2023 of the final report of the Judicial Planning Working Group, the Government committed to an historic increase of the number of judges to facilitate greater access to justice. The final Report recommended that 44 additional judges be appointed in two phases.

A first tranche of 24 additional judges was approved by Government on 21 February 2023. The 24 additional judges included 8 extra judges for the District Court, 8 for the Circuit Court, 6 for the High Court and 2 for the Court of Appeal. All of these 24 additional positions have been filled in 2023.

Three of the additional judicial posts were created in the Circuit Court by the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022 as applications must be made in the Circuit Court under this legislation. The remaining 21 additional judicial posts were created by the Courts Act 2023.

The provision of training for Judges is a matter for the Judicial Council. The Judicial Council is independent in its functions, and its Judicial Studies Committee is responsible for the delivery of judicial training.

Upon the commencement of its remaining provisions, the Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2023 will further require the Judicial Appointments Commission to consider what training or continuous professional development all candidates for judicial office have undertaken in making recommendations to Government regarding their appointment to judicial office.

Work to establish the Judicial Appointments Commission is currently under way and it is envisaged that the Commission will be established later this year.