asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware of delays well in excess of six months in the processing of applications for personal probate in the Personal Probate Section of his Department; the proposals he has to reduce this waiting time; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

60.

asked the Minister for Justice if he will comment on the apparent delays in processing cases in the probate office.

I propose to take Question No. 13 and written Question No. 60 together.

An increase in the volume of business against a background of restrictions on staffing has been giving rise to greater delays in the issue of grants from the Probate Office, Dublin, in personal application cases.

Additional staff has been made available to the Probate Office recently, however, and it is expected that this will in time lead to a significant reduction in delays.