Vol. 473 No. 4
450 Miss Harney asked the Minister for Justice if her attention has been drawn to the fact that the proposed temporary courtroom on the second floor of the Dublin Central Mission (details supplied) in Dublin 1 is not accessible to people with disabilities; and the steps, if any, she proposes to take to ensure that all citizens have access to the court. [1719/97]
The court facilities in the Dublin Central Mission referred to by the Deputy are leased for temporary shortterm use pending the completion of five new courtrooms and ancillary accommodation at the former Richmond Hospital in May 1997. The cases being heard in this court are mainly parking offences and arrangements are in place to transfer cases involving disabled persons, where required, from the court in the Dublin Central Mission to courts which are accessible to people with disabilities.
The courts building programme, which is currently under way, strives to ensure that access for disabled persons is provided in all cases where a courthouse is being refurbished or rebuilt, in as far as is reasonably practicable.
