Vol. 519 No. 6
205 Mr. McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will have investigations made into the delay in dealing with cases in the wards of court office; and the typical timeframe for such developments. [14599/00]
The Deputy will be aware that the responsibility for the staffing and management of the Wards of Court Office lies with the Courts Service.
I have been informed by the courts service that there are delays in the processing of applications for dismissal orders. In 1999, prior to the establishment of the courts service, I secured sanction for additional resources to be allocated to this office in order to assist in dealing with the increasing volume of work being undertaken there, as well as to deal with existing arrears. I understand that the question of allocating further staff to this office is under consideration at the moment.
In the meantime, existing staff have been reallocated to assist in addressing the backlog of cases awaiting formal dismissal. In parallel with this redirection of staff a facility is being offered to the personal representatives of estates awaiting dismissal to apply for an interim payment of such proportion of the funds in the court as would allow sufficient funds to be retained to meet outstanding liabilities in the wardship proceedings, including costs.
It is not possible to give a typical time frame for the processing of such cases as account must be taken of the unique requirements of each case.
