Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 January 2018
590. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 69 of 2 November 2017, if that office has now ceased accepting personal applications; when it last accepted a personal application; the status of the promised review of the probate system to be completed by the end of 2017; when the recommendations of the review are expected to be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1761/18]
View answerAs per the Deputy's clarification I refer to Parliamentary Questions number 638 of 11 September 2017 and 214 of 14 November 2017.
As the Deputy is aware, the Probate Office is an office of the High Court and management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions under the Courts Service Act 1998.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me that the Probate Personal Applicant Division of the Probate Office continues to accept personal applications for Grants of Representation in deceased persons' estates. While a number of experienced Probate staff members have been on unexpected long term sick leave and this factor has contributed to delays in the service, it has not led to a situation where personal applications for a Grant have been refused at any point.
All applications for Grants of Representation in deceased persons' estates are made on foot of a number of mandatory legal documents, which must be furnished by the applicants, and these require detailed checking by the Probate Office to ensure that the estate of the deceased person is administered correctly and in accordance with the law. All applications are assessed on the basis of the date on which they are lodged, an approach which provides fairness and equity to all applicants. However, where any personal applicant signals a particular urgency regarding their circumstances, the Probate Office endeavours to expedite the application in question.
The backlogs in the probate system are an ongoing cause for concern and a review of the probate system is being carried out at present. The report with recommendations for the modernisation of the process is now being finalised and will be presented to the Senior Management Team of the Courts Service and to the Courts Service Board early this year.
In the meantime, the Courts Service has assigned additional staff resources to the Probate Office to assist in dealing with the high volume of work of the Office and this is expected to result in an improvement in timeframes for all applications, including Personal Applicant applications.
