asked the Minister for Justice if his attention has been drawn to the many gardaí who have to attend various courts on a daily basis with considerable time wasted, particularly due to the fact that it is often for applications for adjournments for persons or for remand of the cases; and the proposals, if any, he has to change the rules in order to ensure that gardaí be utilised to their best advantage in combatting crime.
Written Answers. - Garda Time Utilisation.
99.
Proposals to reduce the amount of Garda time spent in court are constantly under review by the Garda authorities and by my Department and a number of measures have been taken. Over the past number of years considerable progress has been made, in the context of the computerisation of court offices, on scheduling court cases so that cases being dealt with by a particular garda are listed together for hearing so far as possible.
An important recent development is the greater use of summons procedure in the Dublin Metropolitan Area, whereby persons arrested for certain minor offences may be released and proceeded against by way of summons, instead of being charged and brought before the next sitting of the District Court. This procedure is intended to reduce the amount of Garda time spent in court on adjournments and the Garda authorities are encouraged by initial results. The procedure is currently being monitored so that any worthwhile improvements can be introduced to maximise its effectiveness.
Some other measures aimed at giving further savings in the amount of Garda time spent in court are currently being examined.