Noonan hits back at Law Society claims that cuts to court services are flawed

The Minister for Finance has hit back at claims by the Law Society that proposals to cut court services are short-sighted and flawed, insisting "things have to move on".

The society's director general Ken Murphy has said cuts to court services around the country have reached an unjustifiable level and now pose a threat to "the very fabric of our justice system".

The Law Society, which represents solicitors, said 77 local courts have been closed since 2008, while the Courts Service budget was reduced by 40 per cent.

A proposal to shut suburban District Courts in Dún Laoghaire, Tallaght, Swords and Balbriggan is being considered.

“The rationalisation of the Courts Service has gone beyond what is sensible and justified, and poses a threat to the very fabric of our justice system,” Mr Murphy said.

Conservative

When asked about the matter in Limerick yesterday, Minister for Finance

Michael Noonan

said: “The law profession is a very conservative profession.”

Referring to the profession's Latin motto Nolumus Mutari (we shall not be changed), Mr Noonan added: "I think they have an inscription in Latin over the King's Inns which effectively means nothing will ever change.

“But the signal we would like to give the profession is that the new Minister for Justice is available for discussions about the various matters, and they are the professionals in the system and we will take their advice very seriously, but the position of ‘no change’, that’s not a runner, things have to move on.”

Mr Noonan a former minister for justice, was also asked about his view on the representations made by Fianna Fáil TDs Niall Collins and Éamon Ó Cuív on behalf of convicted criminals.

Universal support

“The Taoiseach and the Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin dealt adequately with this issue. I don’t expect it to be the practice in the future, and I think there would be universal support for that position in Leinster House,” Mr Noonan said.