Pearse Doherty
Question:157. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Justice the plans to reduce delays in processing probate applications; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33178/23]
View answerWednesday, 5 July 2023
Questions (157)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, the 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 its functions. Probate functions are also carried out by County Registrars at District Probate Registries in 14 provincial court offices, and these office holders are also independent in carrying out their functions.
I can, however, assure the Deputy that every effort is made by the Courts Service to ensure that probate services are adequately supported with staff, training and other resources and that the public are assisted in dealing with what can be a complex and sensitive matter.
The Courts Service is currently implementing a 10-year programme of modernisation of the Courts system. An eProbate project has been identified as part of the civil law modernisation workstream of this programme and an initial budget has recently been allocated to the Courts Service to facilitate the commencement of the project this year. At the same time, the Courts Service is aware of its need to reduce waiting times while the eProbate project is under way. In this regard, it has prioritised the recruitment of additional staff to help in this task.
It is envisaged that eProbate will include a single point of contact for all applications for Probate in the State. In addition, one of the main reasons for delays is the number of invalid applications received in the Probate Office. It is intended that as part of the development of the new system, the application process will be simplified for users and there will be reduced opportunities for errors, thereby speeding up the process.
In addition, by reducing the number of invalid applications, the development of the new system will allow staff resources to be better utilised in processing other applications for the benefit of the public.