asked the Minister for Justice when he proposes to establish a district and circuit court in Dún Laoghaire having jurisdiction in all matters.
129.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dún Laoghaire Courts.
128.
asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware that the absence of a district court in Dún Laoghaire with full jurisdiction in all matters is a great hardship on school attendance and similar cases with children, parents and relatives having to travel to courts in Dublin and Bray; and that it is also a great inconvenience to traders, business people and Corporation officials in having to travel to courts in Dublin and Bray to transact legal business that could be transacted more conveniently in Dún Laoghaire; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 128 and 129 together.
I have considered very carefully the various representations made to me urging the establishment in Dún Laoghaire of sittings of the District Court and Circuit Court with full jurisdiction.
The present arrangements under which the Dún Laoghaire area is included for District Court purposes in the Dublin Metropolitan District, with sittings at Dún Laoghaire for certain limited classes of business, are of very long standing, have worked well, and have not until recently been the subject of representations.
Having regard to the relatively short distances involved and to the transport services available, I do not accept that travel to Dublin, which is the venue for practically all the cases not heard in Dún Laoghaire itself, constitutes any significant hardship on Dún Laoghaire residents. The number of school attendance cases arising in Dún Laoghaire is only about 28 a year. It is in the interests of all concerned that children's cases generally which arise in Dún Laoghaire should be disposed of by the specialised Children's Court in Dublin Castle where full-time Probation Officers are in attendance.
The information available to me does not support the contention that the present arrangements cause great inconvenience to traders, business people and Corporation officials in Dún Laoghaire. The number of defended civil cases arising in Dún Laoghaire does not exceed 50 a year. Personal appearance by the applicant is not required in routine licensing cases; these are normally handled by the applicants' solicitors who, in practically all instances, have their offices in Dublin. All cases arising by way of summons by Dún Laoghaire Corporation are disposed of in Dún Laoghaire.
I am quite satisfied that the present arrangements in relation to Dún Laoghaire are those best suited to the efficient and economical functioning of the District Court. While I can appreciate that the idea of full sittings would be attractive to some Dún Laoghaire organisations for prestige reasons, it is clear to me that the balance of advantage lies with retaining the existing arrangements and I do not favour any major change.
The law as it stands at present confers on the President of the Circuit Court the power to fix sitting places of the Circuit Court. Having examined the proposal to hold sittings in Dún Laoghaire, I am satisfied that it is a course which has little to commend it. For practical reasons, criminal jury trials would have to be heard in Dublin, so that a Circuit Court in Dún Laoghaire would be concerned only with appeals from the restricted District Court hearings, and with civil business. In the latter case, the parties or their legal advisers would have the option of selecting Dublin rather than Dún Laoghaire as the trial venue. This is an option which would be widely exercised.
The small volume of business which would be dealt with in Circuit Court sittings in Dún Laoghaire would make such sittings wasteful and uneconomic. Because of the short distances and the transport services, the present system cannot be said to impose a hardship on Dún Laoghaire residents, and I am not prepared to sponsor any change.
Is the Minister aware of the resolutions passed by the Chamber of Commerce and by other organisations in Dún Laoghaire, representing a number of different interests, as well as by the legal profession there, that it would not merely cheapen litigation but make it easier for litigants who at present have to attend in some cases the Bray District Court, which is a considerable distance away, or the Metropolitan District Court? The population of Dún Laoghaire is anything from 60,000 to 80,000.
I am well aware of all that and I have given deep and long consideration to the whole matter. I have received the representatives to which the Deputy referred. This is one of those matters in which one has to weigh the balance of advantage and I am convinced, because of the low volume of litigation that would obtain in either a District Court or a Circuit Court in Dún Laoghaire, it would be uneconomic from the administration point of view to establish courts specially in Dún Laoghaire. From the point of view of the public generally, the transport services available and the immediacy of Dún Laoghaire to Dublin do not make it that inconvenient for residents to attend either the District or the Circuit Court in Dublin. On analysis of the situation, short of a very substantial increase in litigation in Dún Laoghaire, which is something I am not inclined to encourage, I would not be justified, I think, in moving courts to Dún Laoghaire.
Whatever about the Circuit Court, does the Minister not think there is a case for making provision in District Court sittings to cover cases that at present have to be dealt with either in Bray or in Dublin?
The balance of advantage lies, as I say, in the existing arrangement, but I shall continue to have a look at it. When representations were first made to me, I was attracted to the idea. However, having gone into it at greater depth, the balance of advantage is against it. I will receive any representations the people in the area may have to offer and I shall continue to keep it under review.
Perhaps the Minister would also reply to Dún Laoghaire Corporation? They feel they have not been treated with the courtesy they would expect.
I have noticed that and I am surprised. I shall have the matter investigated.