asked the Minister for Justice if he has yet reached a decision to make provision for a district court for Dún Laoghaire Borough and South County Dublin with jurisdiction in all matters.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dún Laoghaire District Court.
88.
The answer is "No".
The Deputy will recall that on the last occasion on which this matter was raised in the House I said that, while I personally favoured having a District Court with full jurisdiction in Dún Laoghaire, the removal of Dún Laoghaire from the Dublin Metropolitan District would have some serious side effects on the status of the area in the context of the licensing laws and amending legislation would be necessary to preserve the present status. Because of pressure of more urgent work in my Department, it has not been possible to make much progress with the preparation of such amending legislation.
Leaving aside the licensing laws, the Minister is aware that there are a number of other matters which come within the District Courts' jurisdiction and which, in fact, have now assumed more significance because of the increase in the jurisdiction. Perhaps in that context the Minister will consider making an order covering these matters, and leave aside the question of amending legislation for further consideration on some other suitable occasion.
Unfortunately, I cannot do this, because if I were to establish a District Court in Dún Laoghaire with full jurisdiction it would automatically follow that Dún Laoghaire would be taken out of the Dublin Metropolitan District and various serious consequences in relation to licensing would immediately crop up. There is the further problem, as I pointed out here in February, 1971, that the Committee on Court Practice and Procedure were unanimous in recommending that there should be no District Court at all in Dún Laoghaire. One of their recommendations was that there should be complete centralisation of all Dublin Courts, not just Dún Laoghaire, but various courts in parts of Dublin city and county. A general decision in relation to other courts would have to be made at the same time.
Is the Minister aware that since then the legal practitioners in Dún Laoghaire, as well as the corporation itself, and the Wicklow Bar Association whose members practise in the same area, have all recommended, because of the increased volume of work, that Dún Laoghaire might be considered as a separate area not only for the District court but also for the Circuit Court? In addition, adequate court facilities are available there.
That is my own view but, unfortunately, as I said before, there are these two sets of difficulties, of which the major one is the licensing laws. The Deputy may not appreciate the effect that would follow. I am sure he would be one of the first to come to me to revert to the previous situation.