A government bill, Court Proceedings (Delays) Bill 2023, is currently being debated in the Dail. In debate on that bill, Deputy Carol Nolan (Independent, Laois-Offaly) discussed proposed judicial appointments and reforms—including expanding the number of judges. Specifically, Deputy Nolan stated: “The Government says that it is considering the appointment of several additional judges to speed up the process. However, I will make the point—one made by Mr. Seth Barrett Tillman of Maynooth University many times—that these appointments will not improve matters if the rules and traditions that guide the [future] conduct of [Irish] litigation carry on using the same or a similar procedural framework [that has failed in the past]. In fact, it will just mean that whatever new courts we set up will continue to be weighed down by the exact same backlog in the exact same way as exists now.”
Deputy Carol Nolan TD (Independent, Laois-Offaly), Dáil Éireann debate: Court Proceedings (Delays) Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed), Houses of the Oireachtas (May 30, 2023), https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2023-05-30/11/