A JUDGE has described the State's busiest criminal court as "a certified fire hazard".
Judge Cyril Kelly at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court said there were no exit points on one side of Court 24 where he presides over the daily list.
The same applied next door in Court 25. If a fire started on one side of either courtroom there was no escape route.
He said people were held in cells underneath the court where again there was only one entrance and exit. He feared to think what would happen were there a fire.
"This court is the busiest criminal court in the State but it has been neglected and badly treated by the authorities in the past 15 years. It urgently needs new money and new facilities," he said.
Judge Kelly pointed to the microphones on his bench which he noted were held with an elastic band and said the air conditioning could not he turned on despite the heat because of its noise.
He made his comments when thanking the members of the current jury panel at the completion of their service period.
In the latest and strongest public comment yet in a litany of such complaints in recent years by him and his predecessor, Mr Justice Moriarty, now of the High Court, he said the court was "grossly unsuitable".
Judge Kelly apologised that more people had to remain standing than could be seated in what he called the "prehistoric conditions of this overcrowded courtroom". People on jury service carried out an essential civic duty often at great cost to themselves. They were entitled to proper facilities.
"This court is a certified fire hazard. It is fit only to hold about 50 people legally but oftentimes has perhaps 400 people crammed in," he said.
He noted also that during this past week, due to a shortage of courtrooms, he had to postpone trials for which large numbers of witnesses - some from overseas - had attended.
Judge Kelly said that 30 years ago there were only a small number of trials compared to the present day. Most days this week his list had from 25 to 40 indictable cases and the Friday list - would have about 100.
There were five or six cases listed daily for trial and but for the number of guilty pleas entered the system would break down.
"I appreciate that the backlog of civil court cases has been reduced in recent months but the same number of judges as there were available 30 years ago are being asked to deal with a massively increased volume of criminal work," he said.