Jim O'Keeffe
Question:63 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice the average delay in Dublin and throughout the country in obtaining trials from the date of service of Notices of Trial in High Court and Circuit Court cases.
Written Answers. - Delays in Court Cases.
I have dealt with the question of delays in the hearing of civil cases in the High Court and the Circuit Court in other statements I have made here and elsewhere over the past few months and the House will be aware that others who have special knowledge of the subject have commented also.
I believe that there is misunderstanding generally about these delays and that it would perhaps be useful if I were to say a few words in order to clarify matters.
It is quite wrong to assume that an extended interval between the service of notice of trial and the actual hearing of a civil action is inevitably a matter of inconvenience to the parties involved or to their legal representatives. For tactical and other reasons, in fact, the parties or their representatives may find it preferable to have a hearing postponed, though this may not of course be acknowledged openly by those favouring postponement. I make this point, not to give the impression that all delays can be explained by reference to factors of this kind — there is no question that many cases are delayed because of pressure on the Courts — but in order to emphasise that it is not reasonable simply to lump all cases together, calculate the average time between the date of service of notice of trial and date of hearing and conclude that the resulting figure provides some sort of measure of the level of inconvenience suffered by litigants due to pressure on the Courts. When I use the term "delay" for the purpose of replying to the Deputy's question, it is important that the foregoing consideration be borne in mind.
I am informed that, apart from personal injuries cases, there are no significant delays in the hearing of High Court cases. There is a delay of twenty four months in the hearing of personal injury actions in the High Court in Dublin and an average delay throughout the remainder of the country of approximately thirty months. I also understand however, that in the High Court approximately 90 per cent of all personal injury cases are in fact settled out of Court.
In the Circuit Court in Dublin the delay in the hearing of civil cases is approximately twelve months. The delay throughout the country varies from one Circuit Court venue to another with the delay in Cork being in excess of three years while other venues such as Castlebar and Monaghan have no delay at all. On average the delay in the hearing of civil cases in the provincial Circuit Court is approximately nine months.