Vol. 411 No. 4
128 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Justice the plans he has to have documentation normally served by the Garda sent by registered post; when any such change will take effect; the number of man hours which will be released for more relevant police work in each division by this action; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Courts Act, 1991, which came into operation on 15 October 1991, provides for the service by registered post or any other system of recorded delivery, of District Court summonses in cases of summary jurisdiction. In this regard officials of my Department have been in dialogue for some months with officials from An Post in order to consider how best this can be done. They have also been examining office machinery to meet the particular requirements for the enveloping of the summonses.
The new arrangements, which will be introduced as soon as possible, will initially release up to 60 gardaí for other police duties. The bulk of the gardaí concerned would be serving in the Dublin metropolitan area, DMA. It is not possible to give a more precise statement of anticipated Garda manpower savings at this stage.
