Joe Neville (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

1045. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if his Department will appoint additional district court judges in north Kildare as currently there are people within the Family Court system that are on long waitlists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30392/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Management of the courts, including matters related to the administration of the courts, is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, is independent in exercising its functions.

In addition to assigned judges for a particular District, moveable judges are also assigned by the Court President to hear cases in Districts across the country. The District Court President is, under the Constitution, independent in the exercise of his judicial functions.

I would like to assure the Deputy that I am committed to resourcing the courts and judiciary sufficiently to ensure efficient and timely access to justice. Following the publication in February 2023 of the Report of the Judicial Planning Working Group (JPWG), the previous Government committed to an 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, to further increase judicial numbers by another 20 extra judges in line with the recommendations of the JPWG report (two for the Court of Appeal and six each for the High, Circuit and District Courts) to meet the growing demands on the justice system and to further reduce long waiting times across the courts. As outlined in the current Programme for Government, this Government is committed to putting these extra 20 judges in place within 12 months and I plan to introduce legislation to increase the number of judges set in statute accordingly later this year.

On 1 January 2025, the Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2023 came into operation in its entirety. On 13 March 2025, the Commission announced its first competition to identify candidates for recommendation to the Office of Judge of the District Court. There are six current vacancies and one pending vacancy in the court. The Commission has now concluded its competition for District Court judges, and I intend to bring the names of candidates to be nominated for appointment by the President as judges of the District Court to Cabinet shortly.

I would also like to point out that the Court Proceedings (Delays) Act 2024 provides parties with a right to conclusion of proceedings within a reasonable time and for compensation where that right is breached via an independent assessment process. Arrangements to operationalise the requirements of the Act are currently being finalised with a view to the Act being commenced this autumn.