THE Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, is proposing the appointment of three more Circuit Court judges, in addition to the nine nominated on Tuesday.
The proposal to increase the maximum number of ordinary members of the Circuit Court from 24 to 27, the biggest ever, is contained in the Courts Bill 1996.
The Bill was debated in the Seanad yesterday and will come before the Dail when it is recalled for a one day debate on crime on July 25th. It will cost an extra £311,000 a year.
Mrs Owen announced the appointment of the three extra judges to deal with the backlog in drugs and crime cases in her anti-crime package last week.
Three of the judges already announced are solicitors. They are Mr John Buckley, Mr Frank O'Donnell, and Mr Michael White. These appointments break with the tradition of only appointing barristers to the higher courts.