asked the Minister for Justice if he can state why the Circuit Court was not held during this autumn at Portumna, Co. Galway; by whose authority the Circuit Court was transferred to Ballinasloe; whether he is aware that people residing in Portumna district have to travel from twenty to thirty miles to attend the Circuit Court at Ballinasloe, and have frequently to remain, at considerable inconvenience and expense, in the latter place for two or three days before their cases are disposed of; whether provision will be made in the New Rules of Court for the holding of a Circuit Court at Portumna, and whether Civil Bills will in future be issued by solicitors only for the Circuit Court to be held in the districts respectively in which the defendants reside.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - CIRCUIT COURT AT PORTUMNA.
The Circuit Court sittings in County Galway during the present term were arranged by the Circuit Judge (Judge Power) with my approval. Part of the arrangement was that the Portumna cases were to be taken at Ballinasloe. The reason for this arrangement was that in the past two sittings of the Civil Bill Court in the year sufficed to cope with the volume of work in the Portumna division and it was thought that owing to the civil jurisdiction conferred upon the District Court the number of cases from the former Civil Bill Division of Portumna for hearing by the Circuit Court would be small.
The present arrangement, however, is purely temporary. The centres in which the Circuit Court Judges will sit and the division of counties into specified areas for the purpose of such sittings are matters for which provision will be made in the Circuit Court Rules. These Rules will require to be approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas before they become operative, so that the Deputy will have ample opportunity of dealing with the matters raised in this question.