Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 October 2020
413. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Justice if her attention has been drawn to the significant backlog of applications to the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicators of the High Court; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30194/20]
View answerLegal Cost Adjudicators are independent office holders attached to the High Court.
In order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquires made and the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator (OLCA) has informed me that, assuming all formalities have been completed, the current waiting times for a case to be listed for hearing by the Office currently stands at approximately 16 weeks. This compares to a period of 8-10 weeks prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following the restrictions imposed in mid March as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Legal Costs Adjudicators worked remotely and no physical adjudication hearings were held. The main OCLA office has remained open for business, continuing to accept e-filed applications and assign new dates for hearings, answering e-mail and phone queries,
Measure were taken to adapt the offices and adjudication hearing room to allow for safe resumption of physical hearings, in line with the Government roadmap. A return to work protocol was put in place at the end of May 2020. Newly installed remote hearing facilities were trialled 15th of June 2020. Steps were also taken to facilitate finalising matters without the need for an oral hearing in accordance with s.156(6) of the Legal Services Regulation Act, 2015. Emails were sent to hundreds of parties and regretfully, there was only a small take up of cases on this basis.
Resumption of physical hearings with limited capacity and staggered hearing times were held. All outstanding cases have now been transferred into the Chief Legal Costs Adjudicators list and these will be dealt with in chronological order or where a case has a particular urgency.
The appointment of a third Legal Costs Adjudicator, due to take office on 19th of October 2020, is expected to assist in the process of disposing of cases and improving waiting times.
