The Taoiseach has denied that the Independent Alliance ministers are preventing the appointment of judges to fill vacancies in the courts.

“No, the Independent Alliance have not attempted to put down their foot and say no more judges should be appointed,’’ Enda Kenny said.

Mr Kenny said the recent group of judges appointed were the last under the old system.

He was replying to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who claimed the Independent Alliance was causing paralysis in judicial appointments – and that there was a weakness on the other side of the Government in failing to stand up to them.

Mr Martin said it was unacceptable that there would be no judges appointed until the legislation setting up the judicial appointments' commission.

“I would put it to you that any government that is incapable of appointing judges is a dysfunctional government,” he said. “And you need to rectify that, Taoiseach, very, very quickly indeed.’’

Mr Martin said justice delayed was justice denied.

“It is a fundamental core function of the Government to ensure the appointment of judges to our courts in a timely and effective manner,’’ he said.

“It is quite extraordinary that there is still a backlog of up to 1,800 cases waiting to be heard by the Court of Appeal.’’

That court, he said, came about as a result of a constitutional amendment and was established in 2014, delays of up to 4½ years having been seen previously.

A recent assessment by a law lecturer in Maynooth indicated that, despite the work under way, the rate of progress meant it would take some 11 years for the backlog to be cleared, Mr Martin added.

Small number

Mr Kenny said he understood the number of judicial vacancies in all the courts was very small at present.

He said Frances Fitzgerald, the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, had set out her views in respect of putting together a judicial appointments commission.

The Taoiseach understood that the parliamentary counsel’s response had been sent to the department, he said.

"Far be it for me to say that the learned members of the bench are not able to do their job," he said. "They are . . . but the intention in setting up the Court of Appeal was not to have so many cases lying for years before being dealt with by the Supreme Court. "

Mr Martin said Chief Justice Susan Denham and the president of the Court of Appeal, Mr Justice Sean Ryan, had appealed to the Government to fill vacancies.

Three courts

There were currently vacancies in the Supreme Court, the District Court and the Circuit Court that have not been filled, Mr Martin said.

In response, Mr Kenny said the Government had inherited a system that was not working effectively. He said a backlog had now built up because of the number of cases that moved through the High Court and off to the Court of Appeal.

“The judiciary will quite rightly say more judges are needed to deal with these cases,’’ he added.