Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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522. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he is aware of the backlog with guardianship right cases in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9394/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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It is important to note that 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. Cases before the courts, including guardianship cases, should be dealt with in a timely manner to serve the interest of children, parents, and other guardians.

Following the publication in February 2023 of the Report of the Judicial Planning Working Group, the Government committed to a historic increase of the number of judges to facilitate more timely access to justice and to reduce waiting times and backlogs across the courts. The final Report recommended that 44 additional judges should be appointed in two phases to the Court of Appeal, High, Circuit and District Courts.

A first phase of 24 additional judges was approved and appointed by Government in 2023. These 24 additional judges included eight extra judges for the District Court, eight extra judges for the Circuit Court, six extra judges for the High Court and two extra judges for the Court of Appeal.

The Judicial Planning Working Group also recommended that a second tranche of 20 additional judges should be appointed following an assessment of the impact of the first phase.

The Group recommended that the second phase of extra judges should be split as follows: two Court of Appeal, six High Court, six Circuit Court and six District Court posts. The Programme for Government commits appointing these 20 judges within 12 months as well as to planning for further increases to meet growing demands and timely access to justice.

The report also 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. Work is under way in my Department and the Courts Service to develop such a model.

The Family Courts Act 2024, which was passed by both Houses in November 2024, further provides for the creation of designated Family Court divisions at High, Circuit and District Court level. Once established, the new Family Courts will streamline family law proceedings and ensure that family law cases are dealt with more speedily compared to the current system. Specialised family judges will be assigned to these courts to deal with family law cases and the Act will improve levels of judicial expertise and training in family law matters, thereby making them more user-friendly and less costly.

While the Act has not yet been commenced, the Programme for Government calls for the publication of an implementation plan within 12 months and work is under way in my Department to progress the matter.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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523. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of work on the single permit to both live and work in Ireland; the timeline for the implementation of the single permit; the status of plans to opt into the EU Single Permit Directive; and the timeline for opting into this Directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9443/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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My Department works closely with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to ensure that Ireland's labour market migration arrangements are fair, efficient and meet the needs of our economy and society.

Currently, a person from outside the European Economic Area wishing to work in Ireland must make an application to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment for an employment permit, and then separately apply to my Department for an immigration permission and a visa if necessary.

Work is underway to unify the process for applying for employment permits, visas and immigration permissions, as set out in the Programme for Government. An implementation group has been established with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to commence implementation of what will be a single permit for employment and immigration purposes. This is a complex technical project which it is estimated will take until 2027 to introduce so that Ireland would then be able to opt in to the Single Permit Directive.

In the shorter term, efficiencies will be introduced to make the process easier for prospective employers and workers. These changes will include reducing the duplication of checks and documents through data sharing, aligning online information to streamline the customer experience and designing a single payment model for a single fee.