Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has confirmed his department is to embark on a series of public-private partnership arrangements which will see some €50 million invested in courthouse refurbishment over the coming 18 months.
Mr McDowell said that the Courts Service, under the chairmanship of Chief Justice John Murray and chief executive PJ Fitzpatrick, is currently developing proposals for the public-private partnerships.
"We are now going to public-private partnership models for the financing of major courthouse projects and €50 million is going to be spent over the next short period on courthouse construction and refurbishment in Fermoy, Belmullet, Bray and Tullamore," he said.
Mr McDowell was speaking after officially opening the €26.5 million refurbished Cork courthouse on Saturday. He paid tribute to Cork city manager Joe Gavin, chief executive Mr Fitzpatrick and OPW chairman Seán Benton for their help.
"One of the problems of this particular project was that the cost was so big that it would have absorbed effectively my entire budget for one year if we spent it in one year, but we were in the very happy position that the courthouse was not vested in the Courts Service.
"That meant that it was possible for Cork City Council to enter into a very imaginative finance deal and, under Joe Gavin's inspired ingenuity, it was able to put together a package whereby it would let the premises over a long period of time to the Courts Service."
Mr McDowell and Mr Justice Murray confirmed that the Central Criminal Court would hear cases at the refurbished Washington Street courthouse, which now includes seven courtrooms including some with video link-ups.
The Central Criminal Court has already sat in Limerick and Sligo, and moving to Cork would be of particular benefit to complainants in rape cases, who often have to wait for weeks to get a hearing in Dublin, Mr McDowell said.
Mr Justice Murray said one of the benefits of the refurbishment is that family law cases will now be dealt with a much greater level of privacy for family members who have had such matters before the Circuit Court.
Describing the Cork courthouse as "the jewel in the crown of the Courts Service's extensive building programme", he paid tribute to his predecessor as chairman of the Courts Service board, Mrs Justice Susan Denham, for her work in progressing the project.
He also "acknowledged publicly the efforts and sacrifices" made by those who had continued to "keep the wheels of justice moving" while operating from premises in Camden Quay.
Mr Justice Murray also paid tribute to Department of Justice secretary general Seán Aylward, Cork city and county registrar Deirdre O'Mahony and Courts Service staff Brendan Ryan, Jim McCormack, Shay Kirk and local manager Eamon Kiely.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Seán Martin, welcomed the reopening of the courthouse and said that it was particularly timely that it should happen this year when Cork is hosting the European Capital of Culture.
Saturday's opening ceremony was attended by a large number of members of the judiciary including former Chief Justice Ronan Keane, Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman and Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness, as well as many leading members of the legal profession in Cork.
