Judge numbers to be increased and new planning court to be established

The number of judges in the High Court will increase from 45 to 51. Picture: Laura Hutton/RollingNews.ie

The Government is to significantly increase the number of judges in Ireland to combat significant backlogs in the country’s courts, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

Ministers have agreed to appoint 24 additional judges this year and another 20 within two years in an urgent bid to tackle the delays, under plans to be announced today.