Press Releases

23/05/2011

Croke Park Agreement and the Courts Service

The Chief Executive of the Courts Service will launch a pilot initiative in Naas today as part of the implementation of the Public Service (‘Croke Park’) Agreement.

There have been 21 change items identified as central to the Courts Service response to the Agreement. The Courts Service Action Plan under the Agreement is designed to equip the Service to deliver services and support frontline court operations, at a time of reduced funding and staff numbers, through a programme of structural, operational and organisational reform and the optimisation of resources.

The key change initiatives identified in the Action Plan include a restructuring of court offices into a unified multi- jurisdictional office structure, with the rationalisation of stand alone District Court offices and court venues, development of the role of the County Registrar, optimisation of court room technology and IT support, centralisation of functions and development of cross jurisdictional work practices.

Naas, together with Monaghan and Ennis, has been chosen to pilot the most important of these changes - the Unified Office Project. It will require changes to the operation and structure of services - bringing the Circuit and District court offices together - while at the same time ensuring that opportunities for career progression and development are maintained. The combination of smaller offices will also allow for the adoption of family friendly working arrangements and the maintenance of the shared work experience amongst our staff to the greatest extent.

A simultaneous initiative in Cavan District and Circuit Court offices has identified a number of procedural enhancements to ensure better use of time and resources. The optimisation of the use of technology and IT support is also progressing. A number of initiatives are underway to optimise the use of technology and through increased self sufficiency and decreased dependence on external service providers bring about significant savings. These include the in-house management, operation and development of projects such Digital Audio Recording, Criminal Case Tracking, new telephone technology and the development of a system to enable users process claims for money debts online.