A contract will be awarded in the coming weeks to a security firm to provide security for the Four Courts complex, The Irish Times has learned.
This follows a decision by the Courts Service to initiative new security arrangements in the complex.
Under the new arrangements, members of the public will be checked and electronically screened before they can access the complex.
Solicitors, barristers, journalists regularly covering the courts and other regular court users will be exempted, and will instead carry security passes.
Applications for such passes are currently being processed by the Courts Service.
According to a spokesman for the Courts Service, the new arrangements will be fully in place by Easter as it will take that long to have all the equipment in place.
However, the security personnel are expected to be present within four to six weeks. "It is planned to bring them on site so that they can get a feel for numbers," he said.
Both the security company providing the service and the individual security personnel will be security vetted by the Garda Síochána.
The trademark front entrance to the Four Courts will remain open, but will only be available for use as an exit.
There will be new security pavilions at Morgan Place and the Circuit Court building in Chancery Place.
There will be entrances for those with security passes both at these pavilions and at the judicial car-park at Chancery Place and at the other two existing entrances.
The new arrangements have been drawn up in consultation with the Bar Council and the Law Society.
The new security system will include new lighting and CCTV monitoring.
At the moment security is provided by two gardaí patrolling the complex, with a Garda presence in the courts dealing with criminal cases.
Asked if there had been a problem with security in the courts in the past, the spokesman said that there had not been a serious incident, but there had been a number of incidents where gardaí had to be called.
On a few occasions people had attempted to break into judges' chambers, and one such attempt was successful.
"The problem is the mix of business being done in the complex," he said.
This will change when the new criminal court complex, near the Phoenix Park, is up and running.
The spokesman urged members of the public coming to court in the next few months to arrive a bit earlier than they might otherwise have in order to ensure that they can get through the security system in time.
"We hope there will be no major inconvenience to anyone," he said.