Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 29 Sep 1999

Vol. 508 No. 1

Written Answers. - Marriage Notice.

Alan Shatter

Ceist:

749 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of court orders made under the Family Law Act, 1995, abridging the three months marriage notice period; the number of these orders granted; and the number of these orders refused in each Circuit Court area to date. [17486/99]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue):

Following are three tables for the legal years ending 31 July 1996, 31 July 1997 and 31 July 1998, showing the available statistics for the numbers of applications made, granted and refused in the Circuit Courts under section 33 of the Family Law Act, 1995, for the abridgement of the three months notice requirement for marriage. Circuit Court statistics for the legal year ending 31 July 1999 are not yet available. When they become available, I will arrange for a copy of the required statistics to be forwarded to the Deputy.

Section 33, Family Law Act, 1995

Applications for exemption from 3 months notice of marriage

(Estimated Numbers)

Year Ending 31 July 1996

Circuit Court Office	Applications Received	Applications Granted	Applications Refused
Carlow	6	6	0
Carrick-on-Shannon	1	1	0
Castlebar	1	1	0
Cavan	5	5	0
Clonmel	3	3	0
Circuit Court Office	Applications Received	Applications Granted	Applications Refused
Cork	22	22	0
Dublin	39	31	0
Dundalk	8	8	0
Ennis	4	4	0
Galway	5	4	0
Kilkenny	2	2	0
Letterkenny	14	14	0
Limerick	4	4	0
Longford	0	0	0
Monaghan	2	2	0
Mullingar	2	1	0
Naas	13	13	0
Portlaoise	2	2	0
Roscommon	0	0	0
Sligo	3	3	0
Tralee	2	2	0
Trim	2	1	0
Tullamore	2	2	0
Waterford	4	4	0
Wexford	1	1	0
Wicklow	2	2	0
Total	149	138	0

It should be noted that due to the urgency that often surrounds the making of such applications, applications are often transferred from one circuit court office to another circuit office and it is possible that, despite every effort to ensure the accuracy of these figures, some applications may have been counted twice or not counted all all.

Section 33, Family Law Act, 1995

Applications for exemption from 3 months notice of marriage

(Estimated Numbers)

Year Ending 31 July 1997

Circuit Court Office	Applications Received	Applications Granted	Applications Refused
Carlow	NOT AVAILABLE
Carrick-on-Shannon	5	5	0
Castlebar	8	8	0
Cavan	14	13	0
Clonmel	23	23	0
Cork	67	64	1
Dublin	NOT AVAILABLE
Dundalk	NOT AVAILABLE
Ennis	10	10	0
Galway	12	12	0
Kilkenny	7	3	0
Letterkenny	1	1	0
Limerick	40	40	0
Longford	10	10	0
Monaghan	14	8	0
Mullingar	8	9	0
Naas	38	38	0
Portlaoise	11	11	0
Roscommon	1	1	0
Sligo	6	6	0
Tralee	31	31	0
Trim	11	11	0
Tullamore	17	17	0
Waterford	20	16	1
Wexford	12	10	1
Wicklow	24	21	0
Total	390	368	3

It should be noted that due to the urgency that often surrounds the making of such applications, applications are often transferred from one circuit court office to another circuit office and it is possible that, despite every effort to ensure the accuracy of these figures, some applications may have been counted twice or not counted all all.

Section 33, Family Law Act, 1995

Applications for exemption from 3 months notice of marriage

(Estimated Numbers)

Year Ending 31 July 1998

Circuit Court Office	Applications Received	Applications Granted	Applications Refused
Carlow	NOT AVAILABLE
Carrick-on-Shannon	4	4	0
Castlebar	5	5	0
Cavan	16	10	0
Clonmel	27	NOT AVAILABLE
Cork	109	109	0
Dublin	NOT AVAILABLE
Dundalk	NOT AVAILABLE
Ennis	11	NOT AVAILABLE
Galway	NOT AVAILABLE
Kilkenny	16	16	0
Letterkenny	25	25	0
Limerick	49	48	0
Longford	9	9	0
Monaghan	16	10	0
Mullingar	16	12	0
Naas	44	44	0
Portlaoise	17	17	0
Roscommon	5	4	1
Sligo	4	4	0
Tralee	26	26	0
Trim	20	20	0
Tullamore	27	26	0
Waterford*	24	24	0
Wexford	15	15	0
Wicklow	46	43	0
Total	531	471	1

It should be noted that due to the urgency that often surrounds the making of such applications, applications are often transferred from one circuit court office to another circuit office and it is possible that, despite every effort to ensure the accuracy of these figures, some applications may have been counted twice or not counted all all.