District Court judge for Offaly and Laois says another judge is needed

THE District Court judge for Offaly and Laois has said there are too many cases coming before him and another judge is needed.

Judge Andrew Cody said he had 270 cases on his list at Tullamore District Court today (Wednesday, October 26) and only prosecutions where there were guilty pleas, adjournments or strike-outs could be heard.

The list is split up into a number of different time slots but many of those scheduled for before lunch were not reached until 2pm.

Later that afternoon and with many more cases still to be heard he told the court: “I'm doing my best but it's just not possible to cover that amount of ground.”

He added: “We're not going to be able to deal with contested cases.”

Many contested cases, where pleas of not guilty were entered, were adjourned to January next year to fix dates for hearings.

Already special sittings of Tullamore District Court, in additional to the regular Monday and Wednesday sittings, have been organised.

Judge Cody cited statistics for other District Court areas around the country to back up his argument that the workload in District Number 15, which covers Offaly and Laois, is too heavy.

In 2021 there were 13,746 cases in Offaly and Laois, significantly more than Galway city which had over 10,000 the same year.

Cork city had 23,310 in 2021 and Dublin, with a total of 20 judges, had 115,000.

Judge Cody told those gathered in the District Court courtroom in Tullamore that he had made the same point before.

Speaking in Portlaoise District Court earlier this month he said the level of business there is “unsustainable” and another judge is needed.

He described Portlaoise District Court as “the second busiest court in the country” and block adjourned road traffic matters.

He said some District Courts get through 1,000 cases a month but Portlaoise in the past had covered 500 each week. “We are doing our best but it is not sustainable at this rate,” he remarked.

Stating that there were 286 cases on top of seven search warrants, three executed warrants and six prison video links, Judge Cody said “there is not a hope in hell of doing 286 cases.”

He said: “I am going to see what I can do to get a second Judge… I hope for next year we get a permanent second part time judge.”

At a sitting of Tullamore District Court a week before that he adjourned all cases scheduled for 12 noon and 2pm that day because they would not have been heard, given the volume earlier on the day's list.