asked the Minister for Justice if he will consider introducing evening or night sittings of the District Court in both the Dublin Metropolitan area and throughout the country, to deal exclusively with summary offences under the Road Traffic Acts.
Ceisteanna—Questions Oral Answers. - Road Traffic Law Offences.
29.
Matters of the kind referred to can be dealt with adequately during normal court sittings, I am not satisfied that the disruption and expenses of setting up evening or night sittings would be justified for that purpose only. However, I am examining the question of whether night courts in Dublin might be justified in a wider context.
I am very disappointed with that reply. Does the Minister not accept that District Court lists throughout the country suffer from a saturation of applications under the Enforcement of Court Orders Act, an increased number of licensing applications and, in many instances, when family law lists are taken at the start of business, the net result of this chaos being that members of the Garda Síochána sit and stand around courthouses for hours on end in order to deal with a simple speeding or no-tax offence? Surely the Minister must accept a proposition that will allow these gardaí perform their functions on the streets, thereby releasing them from this obligation to engage in a time-wasting exercise? Furthermore, would the Minister not accept that the cases about which I speak — that is, summary offences under the Road Traffic Acts — are almost exclusively non-contentious in respect of which there is a very high guilty plea rate; that the elimination of delays in the administration of justice could be far more effective were there a night summary court once every second week to deal with offences of a summary nature allowing the courts to proceed with their ordinary business under normal court rules? Surely the Minister must accept that the difficulties being experienced under the present régime need to be addressed?
The principal reason generally suggested for the initiation of night courts is an effort to deal with the criminal situation on the ground. For that reason the Minister has said that, for the reasons advanced by the Deputy alone, he would not feel their establishment justified but he is examining the question of establishing night courts on a wider basis. The type of hearings the Minister is including would be remands on criminal charges and/or substantive hearing of criminal charges. It is within that wider context the Deputy's proposals are being considered at present.
The Minister was saying that it was not being considered at all.
It is being considered.
Would the Minister agree that a large part of the problem would be resolved if there was an extension of the on-the-spot fine provision so that gardaí would not be wasting their time hanging around courts for hours on end in relation to minor Road Traffic Act charges?
The Deputy makes a fair point — that there are many other ways one can approach the aspect of the problem raised by Deputy Flanagan. That is the very reason the Minister considers that the question of remand on criminal charges would require urgent action, which, in turn, might necessitate a night court hearing. Deputy Flanagan will see that his suggestions are being considered in that context if he reads the reply.
The official reply said the contrary.
Would the Minister agree that the single largest impediment to the development of a night courts system was the failure on the part of the Minister for Justice to negotiate proper arrangements with the justices and judges of the District Court? Have any meetings recently taken place with them in an effort to resolve those difficulties?
Obviously not alone are the justices involved but the staff of the courts and the Garda are also involved. The Minister is taking all these matters into account in his present consideration of the night courts.
When did he last speak with the judges?
That is a separate question.