On 12 November the Taoiseach announced the Government's decision to establish a courts service on an interim non-statutory basis. Subsequently, on 18 November 1996, I received the Third Report of the Working Group on a Courts Commission entitled Toward the Courts Service.
Following consideration of the report which contained the draft heads of a Bill to establish the courts service which will greatly facilitate the speedy preparation of the necessary legislation, and as a result of discussions which I held with the Chief Justice and Mrs. Justice Denham, chairperson of the Working Group on a Courts Commission, the Government decided on 19 November 1996 that the courts service should be established on a statutory basis from the beginning and that interim non-statutory arrangements should not be made.