The Courts Service has abandoned plans to build a family court complex on Ormond Quay in Dublin city centre, The Irish Times has learned.
It will develop local family law courts in the suburbs instead, according to a spokesman for the Courts Service, which will avoid "distressed people" having to travel into town.
The proposed centre city complex, planned since 1999, had been intended to house all family law courts, from District to High Court, under the one roof, providing discretion and privacy for family law litigants.
A site on Ormond Quay, owned by Dublin City Council, was identified, planning permission sought and plans drawn up for the complex.
It was intended to include a creche and facilities for the Probation and Welfare service, as well as less formal courtrooms than those in existence at present.
The site was never purchased, and this project has now been abandoned.
In the meantime, provision for family law in the Circuit Court in Phoenix House in central Dublin was expanded in recent years, with three new state-of-the-art court rooms there.
This now leaves only the family law division of the High Court still in the old facilities in Áras uí Dhálaigh, where lawyers and litigants complain of poor facilities and lack of adequate consultation rooms.
The new Circuit Court family law courts are planned for Blanchardstown, Tallaght, Dún Laoghaire and Swords.
As the Courts Service takes possession of extra space in Dolphin House, it will develop improved facilities for District Court family law there, according to the spokesman.
Meanwhile, the Courts Service is now planning a major new Criminal Court complex close to Phoenix Park.
Since the Ormond Quay complex was first mooted, demand grew for a dedicated Criminal Court complex, which would bring the Central Criminal Court, the Special Criminal Court, the Circuit Criminal Court and the District Court under the one roof.
This will be the biggest development in court infrastructure in the history of the State and will contain 23 courtrooms, some of which will contain video-conferencing facilities.
It will also contain facilities for Victim Support, the media, jurors and members of the public, as well as offering special entrances for the accused, avoiding the present situation where they are brought through the Four Courts in handcuffs.
A business plan has been finalised for a public-private partnership to develop the complex at an estimated cost of €100 million.
This will leave the Four Courts complex largely dealing with civil business.
The extra space available will be "examined" for use as improved High Court family law facilities, according to the Courts Service spokesman.
He pointed out that the courts dealt with almost 400,000 criminal matters last year. This compares with 23,000 family law-related matters in the District Court, 6,931 in the Circuit Court and 149 in the High Court, just over 30,000 in all.
Both the Circuit Court and the High Court saw a slight drop in the number of family cases coming before them.