The Chief Justice has said more lawyers, gardaí, Probation Service and Courts Service staff are needed – along with more prison places – if the courts are to become “speedy and efficient”, writes Helen Bruce.

Judge Donal O’Donnell said yesterday that the “scale of investment in the system – and therefore the scale by which we still fall short” – can be illustrated by a “rule-of-thumb calculation”.

He estimates that the budget for the Courts Service, and the salaries and pensions of judges from the central fund, would “keep the health service funded for less than a week and the education system for approximately a week or so”.

It comes following recent criticism that, a year on from the Dublin riots, no one has yet been convicted.

Judge O’Donnell said Irish courts had suffered from a “perfect storm” of outdated IT systems and having the lowest number of judges out of the 44 Council of Europe member states.

He noted the Judicial Planning Working Group had recommended the appointment of 44 judges to the District Court, Circuit Court, High Court and Court of Appeal by the end of this year.

These were to be appointed in two phases, the first of 24 and another of 20.

The first phase was now complete, he said.

He added that there was a direct correlation between judicial numbers and the throughput of cases, but that judicial numbers were only one “pinch point”.

“In order to deal with an increased number of cases, it is necessary that there be: an adequate supply of counsel to prosecute them; solicitors to instruct them; staff from the Office of the [DPP] to supervise prosecutions; gardaí available to give evidence; probation services in some cases; Courts Service staff; and ultimately, prison spaces, to accommodate persons if they are sentenced at the end of the process.

“There is, in this regard, a need for a system-wide analysis,” he said.

Photo: Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland