Vol. 576 No. 1
308 Mr. Dennehy asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on reports of a significant backlog in family law cases which is causing severe disruption to the operation of District Courts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29294/03]
I have been informed by the Courts Service that as of 31 December 2002 in the District Court, there was an average 13 week waiting period in Dublin from the date of issue of the summons to the date of hearing of safety-barring-maintenance-guardianship order applications. As a result of the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act 2002, the time between an ex parte interim barring order and a full hearing is no more than eight working days.
In Cork there is a one month waiting period. In general, there is no delay in hearing family law cases in the provincial District Courts as cases are listed for the next sitting in the District Court area.
