Sir, – It is with considerable regret that Minister for Justice Heather Humphreys has denied the president of the High Court's request for the appointment of 20 extra judges due to the cumulative cost of such appointments ("Minister defends number of new judicial posts following criticism", News, July 12th).
First, the Minister included the cost of support staff salaries and allowances in her statement of costs. While I welcome such a prudent assessment, it is noteworthy that such scrutiny is reserved for judicial costs. One wonders why TDs’ salaries and other leading civil servants appointments do not involve consideration of their support staffs salaries and allowances in public utterances?
Second, I would very respectfully highlight that the defining consideration of such appointments as “costs” is fundamentally misconceived. Such appointments are a critical investment in the underlying commerce that our country so vitally needs as we emerge from a crippling pandemic. When companies cannot access the courts in a timely fashion, it shatters corporate confidence and invites perverse trading conditions.
Finally, and most importantly, it appears that the ordinary citizen’s rights have become subject to a caveat of affordability. The well-espoused maxim that “justice delayed is justice denied” should be heeded in this regard.
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How has our system evolved that the most vulnerable in our society may be denied access to justice because the State cannot afford to hear them? – Yours, etc,
GRAHAM P KENNY,
Kenny Solicitors,
Dublin 2.