Justice

New legislation has been enacted allowing for three more District Court judges to oversee the Children's Courts. These judges will help speed up the handling of cases involving children and reduce the number of repeat remands made, where a child is remanded in bail or custody until the next appearance.

One district court judge claimed (and was paid) €82,240 last year. Of this, €25,958 was for travel expenses, and €56,282 for subsistence expenses. Unlike other judges, this judge claimed nothing for judicial attire. The identity of the judge has not been disclosed by the courts service. A total of €2.3 million in expenses was claimed by judges in 2007.

According to a government spokesperson there is no State website that contains an up to date record of all Irish legislation.

Brian Rossiter, then aged 14, was found in a coma in a Clonmel Garda cell, having been held there overnight on 11 September 2002. He died a few days later. A limited investigation has failed to determine how he died and who was responsible

BY Philip Boucher Hayes 

Traces of semen on the hand of Robert Holohan became a controversial issue and reference was made to it in the victim impact statement by Majella Holohan. However, the evidence was in no way conclusive and would have been hugely prejudicial to a fair trial. By Ruth O'Kelly

Majella Holohan's victim impact statement caused almost as much sensation as the trial of the man who killed her son. She had submitted a draft of the statement to the judge in the case, Paul Carney, before reading it but then she added explosive new material which lent credence to the suspicion that material evidence was withheld from the jury in the case, which would have secured a conviction for murder.

How he killed Robert Holohan; his panic and suicide plan; why he hid the body; how he came to confess....

According to the government legislation programme published on 25 September the government was to publish 17 bills during the autumn session. Just two of these bills have been published. It is now likely  the government will publish in a flurry a number of bills and push them through the Oireachtas in the 11 remaining sitting days before the Christmas recess.

A man was shot last night in the Hyde Road area of Limerick. According to local sources, four shots were discharged at 10.50pm on the road by one of a gang of four youths. The injured man, in his mid thirties, was admitted to the Accident and Emergency department in Limerick's Mid Western Regional Hospital. The man's injuries are not life-threatning.

Victim impact statements have been permissable in Ireland since 1993. Other countries such as the US have allowed them since the 1970's. Countries with variations of the statement include Britain, Australia and Finalnd.