Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 July 2020
614. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the reopening of Wicklow courthouse; the stage the refurbishment works are at; when it is anticipated that these works will be complete; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [13897/20]
View answerUnder the provisions of the Courts Service Act 1998, management of the courts, including the provision of accommodation for court sittings, 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 provided the following update on this matter.
A number of projects in relation to Courts Service accommodation requirements are outlined in the Government's National Development Plan 2018 - 2027. They include the:
1. Provision of further new or refurbished courthouses in provincial cities and county towns where facilities remain sub-standard (including Galway city, Wicklow town, Portlaoise, Tralee and Roscommon) and further provincial locations such as An Clochán Liath (Dungloe) to serve as the Gaeltacht Court for the region, and Tuam.
2. Family Law and Children Court complex at Hammond Lane.
3. Redevelopment and modernisation of the Four Courts following completion of the Hammond Lane project as a campus for Civil courts.
4. Construction of standard county town type court facilities at a number of locations in county Dublin (outside of the city centre) and also in North Kildare, Bray and Navan.
5. Regional Family Law centres.
The precise allocation and timing of additional funding over the entire ten year period of the plan remains to be fully determined. It will be dependent on the outcome of further detailed planning and analysis of costs which will determine prioritisation of projects from a timing and budgetary perspective. At present, the Hammond Lane project is the priority project. In relation to the provision of new/refurbished courthouse facilities at Wicklow and the four other provincial city/county towns mentioned above, once the necessary funding is allocated and allowing time for planning, procurement and construction, a time-frame in the region of 5 years could be anticipated for delivery of these five provincial city/county town projects. Specifically, in relation to Wicklow, the existing courthouse comprising 2 courtrooms is in poor condition and has been closed for a number of years on health and safety grounds. The Courts Service has indicated that while detailed planning or design work has not yet commenced, it has purchased a number of adjacent properties, some of which will be demolished in order to create a larger site capable of accommodating a courthouse building on the scale envisaged. Pending commencement of the overall project and in order to deal with some remedial issues, the assistance of the Office of Public Works has been sought by the Courts Service to bring forward some of this demolition work.
