Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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585. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his attention has been drawn to the significant delays in the Donegal court system; if plans have been made to address this problem; if he has considered appointing an additional judge for Donegal; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6420/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will be aware, 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. Furthermore, the scheduling of individual court cases and the allocation of court business are entirely matters for the Presidents of the Courts and the presiding judges who are, under the Constitution, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions.

It is, however, a priority for my Department to ensure that the courts are resourced to administer justice efficiently and effectively. To this end, the Government endeavours to fill judicial vacancies at the earliest opportunity.

Specifically in relation to the courts in Donegal, I can advise the Deputy that in the District Court, there is currently one judge permanently assigned to District 1, Donegal, and another judge permanently assigned to District 2, which encompasses Counties Leitrim, Sligo and parts of Donegal. In the Circuit Court, one judge is permanently assigned to the Northern Circuit, which encompasses Counties Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan and Leitrim.

As of 31 January 2025, both Courts also have 28 moveable judges each, which the Presidents of the Circuit and District Court assign to hear cases across the country, based on local demand and with flexibility.

Following the publication in February 2023 of the Report of the Judicial Planning Working Group (JPWG), the previous Government committed to a historic increase in judicial numbers to improve access to justice. The report recommended appointing 44 additional judges in two phases across the Court of Appeal, High, Circuit, and District Courts.

A first phase of 24 additional judges was approved and appointed throughout 2023. Specifically, this comprised eight extra judges for the District Court, eight for the Circuit Court, six for the High Court and two for the Court of Appeal.

Following an impact assessment of the first phase of appointments on court business, Government approval was secured on 22 October 2024 for the implementation of the recommended second phase of another 20 extra judges (two for the Court of Appeal and six each for the High, Circuit and District Courts).

As outlined in the current Programme for Government, this Government is committed to continue this work in order to meet the growing demands on the justice system and ensure timely access to justice. Later this year I plan to introduce legislation to increase the number of judges by 20 in line with JPWG recommendations. This will see a further 6 judges appointed in District, Circuit and High Courts and 2 additional judges in the Court of Appeal.

The Working Group further recommended that a formal judicial resource-planning model should be put in place in the medium-term to assess judicial resource requirements across all courts, and work is underway in my Department and the Courts Service to establish such a model.