Nenagh District Court summons getting lost in the post

Issues with summons not being delivered by An Post were raised in Nenagh District Court last Friday.

Judge Mary Cashin said this is a “very serious matter”.

Sergeant Regina McCarthy of Nenagh Garda Station told the court that there is a persistent issue where summons are being returned to gardaí but having never reached the defendants. 

Gardaí are issuing the summons by registered post, which are being signed and then returned to the gardaí.

Sgt McCarthy told the court that gardaí think postal staff may be signing them but they don’t know what is happening.

She said she has, through the Superintendent, contacted An Post to query the issue but has yet to receive a response. 

The sergeant asked the court to adjourn some of the cases to allow An Post to respond and the gardaí to make further enquiries. 

This was not possible in one case which had to be struck out last Friday because too much time had elapsed. The judge pointed out the court was entitled to this course of action.

Sgt McCarthy acknowledged that this is not the fault of defendants who have not been served.

In another case, the summons was delivered to a Direct Provision Centre, where a member of staff there signed for it but the intended person never received it. 

That individual has now moved on and their summons could not be delivered.  

That case was adjourned to allow the gardaí more time to locate the defendant.