Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 February 2012
149 Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of staff in the Probate Service due to retire by 29 February; if he will outline on a county basis the current waiting time for probate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11652/12]
View answerThe Probate Office is an office of the High Court. Under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that in Dublin probate is dealt by the Principal Probate Registry in the High Court where one officer is to retire by 29 February 2012. The Courts Service has informed me that waiting time for probate applications in the Principal Probate Registry (Dublin) have significantly improved. Substantial efforts were made in the course of 2011 to address waiting times for the personal applicant which have resulted in waiting times reducing from approximately 26 weeks last year to 10 weeks currently. Applications from solicitors currently take about 3-4 weeks. In addition there are 14 District Probate Registries located outside Dublin. These registries are attached to the Circuit Court Offices. Officers assigned to the District Probate Registries also have responsibility for other aspects of circuit court work. I am informed that the waiting times for District Probate Registries are not readily to hand but are being compiled and I will arrange to have them forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.
The Court Service has informed me that the impact of staff retirements on the provision of services will vary between court offices depending on the numbers retiring and the skill sets available in each office. The Service has put in place contingency plans which are being customised to meet the needs of individual offices. These plans include technical skills training to address the skills and knowledge deficit resulting from retirements. The following table sets out the overall number of staff retiring by 29 February 2012 in each Circuit Court office which has a District Probate Registry and the number of staff retiring who are currently assigned to the District Probate Registries.
|
Circuit Court Office |
Number of retirements in each Circuit Court Office |
Number of retirements from officers currently assigned to Probate Section in each Circuit Court Office |
|
Mayo |
0 |
0 |
|
Cavan |
2 |
1 |
|
Tipperary |
3 |
1 |
|
Cork |
0 |
0 |
|
Louth |
1 |
0 |
|
Galway |
4 |
1 |
|
Kilkenny |
1 |
1 |
|
Donegal |
0 |
0 |
|
Limerick |
2 |
0 |
|
Westmeath |
0 |
0 |
|
Sligo |
0 |
0 |
|
Kerry |
4 |
1 |
|
*Waterford |
2 |
0 |
|
Wexford |
0 |
0 |
|
Total |
19 |
5 |
*Waterford is now a combined Court Office.
150 Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of staff in the Courts Service due to retire by 29 February; the impact of these retirements on court services; and if any court services will be closed or curtailed during 2012. [11653/12]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, under the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service which is independent in exercising its functions. However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that 53 staff members will have retired between 1 January and 29 February, 2012, bringing to 121 the total number to have retired from the Courts Service through age related or cost neutral early retirements in the period since 1 Feb 2010. The Court Service have put in place a series of work force planning measures over the last three years to ensure that available resources are deployed to best effect including the centralisation of processes, creation of multi-jurisdictional combined court offices, rationalisation of court venues and offices, rationalisation and standardisation of court procedures and an on-going review of resource allocation, including redeployment to front line services.
The Court Service have in place specific plans to address the immediate transition period following the 29 February 2012. These include the filling of key operational and front line posts, increased use of lateral transfer to fill such posts, increased flexibility in the use of staff resources; and redeployment of resources from other Government Departments and agencies where permissible. In addition, the Courts Service will continue to work closely with Court Presidents to ensure that court sittings are maintained. This will, in some instances, result in some restrictions on public access to services where resources are prioritised to allow for continuance of sittings.
I am sure the Deputy will appreciate that the Courts Service, in common with all other public sector organisations, is obliged to ensure that resources are deployed to best effect to ensure continuity of service with reduced budgets and resources. Greater flexibility in the deployment of available resources will be critical in maintaining the delivery of front line court services. All court facilities are subject to ongoing review and no court venue or office is excluded from this process.
