Courts Service say courts to remain open

As the first week of the Hilary Term sittings of Cavan Circuit Court come to a conclusion Court Services have said that at present sittings will continue as scheduled, but also indicated that there will be a further announcement this (Friday) evening.

Yesterday the Courts Service announced measures to scale back the number and size of court hearings, but the information to date is that the courts will not be closing.

In their statement the Courts Service point out that they have established a contingency planning group to review its plans to meet the challenges caused by the arrival of COVID-19 in Ireland. A spokesperson for the Court Service confirmed that there will be a further update this evening.

Yesterday's statement said: “Business continuity plans for courthouses and buildings are being updated and reviewed, and will be monitored on an ongoing basis. Official HSE guidance has now issued to staff, and is being followed.”

Communications plans are in place for Judges, staff and court users to be used in the event of any changes to schedules or cancellations.

An extensive Information Communications and Technology (ICT) contingency plan is in progress in the event of Courts Service buildings being unavailable and the issues associated with closing services, if deemed necessary, are being examined.

Additional sanitisation of public offices and courtrooms has been arranged and hygiene supplies for public offices and hand sanitisers for public areas are being installed currently.

The statement says following HSE guidelines court Service have increased cleaning regimes appropriately: “There are no current plans to cancel court sittings – but contingency plans are in place and are being constantly reviewed.

“In the event of a localised incidence of the virus we will take the advice of the HSE as to what actions to take. Our plans include arrangements to support court sittings, in ways which include modern technology,” the statement concluded.