Naas Court Office to draft in extra staff in New Year to cope with workload

The Courts Service in Dublin issued a statement today explaining that the loss of senior officials in Naas Court Office due to retirements and long term sick leave was having a major impact. The facility, located at the back of Naas Courthouse,  was forced to temporarily close its public office to telephone and counter services at 1pm each day at the end of October due to lack of resources. And Judge Desmond Zaidan told Naas District Court recently that staff in the office were overwhelmed by their workload and experienced officials had to be drafted in from Cos Cork and Kerry. He said that several vacancies have been created in the office in recent times and only two of those positions have been filled. He claimed that staff were run off their feet and were feeling overwhelmed with the increased workload. But remarkably no court sitting in the busy jurisdiction has been cancelled despite the staffing difficulties. The Courts Service statement said: "There have been ongoing pressures of work and challenges for the Court Office in Naas. This has come about from a combination of factors including; the general public service recruitment embargo over a number of years; the retirement of several very experienced people -and thus the loss of a generational knowledge; and long term sick leave of some personnel. "Despite this situation, local staff have worked hard to ensure no frontline service or court sitting has been cancelled: but it has resulted in the office not being able to process matters in the manner people have come to expect from the Courts Service. "It also means the office cannot open in the afternoon for the time being." "To rectify this situation, the Courts Service temporarily moved staff from other offices to act as a short term support, and has now sanctioned the assignment of extra staff to the office. "The arrangements for these extra staff have been signed off on, and are in the process of being filled. "This will bring support to the operation of the office in the New Year."