John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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427. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 111 of 9 July 2025, how the progress in reduced probate processing times outlined (and any more up-to-date figures) have been achieved; if he has any information on the minimum and maximum probate processing times; if the Government restarted accepting probate applications from non-solicitors; if he will indicate the Government plans which he is leading to speed up the process of probate processing times, including the introduction of an eProject process as part of a broader modernization of the court system [49326/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy will appreciate, as Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, I have no role in the exercise of Probate functions. The Probate Office is an office of the High Court. Management of the courts, operational matters and logistical functions are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in the exercise of their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and given the separation of powers in the Constitution.

I am advised that significant progress has been made to reduce average processing times. The average time (nationwide) for probate applications to complete is down from 22 weeks at the start of 2024 to 11 weeks at year end, with Dublin seeing a drop from 25 weeks to 7 weeks over the same period. Average waiting times in the Dublin Probate Office have been held at 7 weeks over the course of 2025. In respect of the District Probate Registries, the waiting times as of the end of August 2025 are provided in the Table below. However, it is important to note that the individual complexities of a case, as well as errors in applications, contribute to the time it takes for a Grant of Probate to issue.

I am further advised that members of the public can apply for probate without employing a solicitor. The Courts Service accepts probate applications for certain cases through its Personal Applicant process, but there are specific situations where a solicitor is mandatory.

As the Deputy has mentioned, the Courts Service is progressing its 10-year Modernisation Programme, to deliver an operating model that is digitally enabled and designed around the user. As part of these efforts, the eProbate project commenced in 2023 and seeks to digitally transform back-office probate operations, to provide an online portal supporting the digital submission of applications, and to improve the provision of probate information online via the courts.ie website.

As part of the eProbate project a new, plain language information site was launched on courts.ie in mid-2024 to help applicants and solicitors in navigate the probate process. Following this, the project deployed a new modern back office-system countrywide in March 2025, paving the way for the deployment of the online portal in the coming weeks.

The public facing portal will act as a single point of contact for personal applicants and their solicitors to submit and track their applications through the entire process. The electronic submission of applications through the online portal, combined with a simplified process, sharing of data from the Revenue Commissioners and the automated validation of key information at submission time, will enable faster and more efficient processing of applications, thereby reducing processing time.

Waiting times in the District Probate Registries - August 2025