Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2017
514. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 177 of 24 October 2017, the reason families to date were not permitted to seek a summary of the overall amount of funds in court; and the reason this policy has now changed. [46174/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra515. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 177 of 24 October 2017, if families are entitled to seek a summary of the way in which funds in court are spent or only a summary of the balance in the account. [46175/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 514 and 515 together.
As the Deputy is aware, the High Court has jurisdiction in wards of court matters and management of the courts is the responsibility of the Courts Service, which is independent in exercising its functions under the Courts Service Act 1998.
However, in order to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made and the Courts Service has informed me of the respective roles of the Committee of the Estate and the Committee of the Person (which is usually one person) appointed by the President of the High Court that apply to a person being taken into wardship which was set out in my reply to parliamentary question number 177 of 24 October 2017.
The Courts Service has further informed me that heretofore, the Committee of the Person was not given financial information on the funds held in court on behalf of the ward because, where a person was appointed Committee of the Person only, their role did not extend to financial matters. The Courts Service has also informed me that, having received enquiries on this issue, the Registrar of Wards of Court consulted with the President of the High Court and it was agreed that it could be beneficial to the Committee of the Person in their role if they were informed of the overall amount of funds held in court. It was therefore decided to provide the Committee of the Person with a summary of the overall funds held in court on behalf of the ward. In approximately 75% of all cases the ward’s Committee is a family member or a trusted friend.
If a family member wishes to have more involvement in and knowledge of the property and affairs of a ward it is open to that family member to apply to be appointed as a Committee of the Estate of the ward by writing to the Office of the General Solicitor for Minors and Wards of Court.
