The Chief Justice Susan Denham has highlighted the impact of stark budget cuts to the courts system.

She says the cost to the State of running Irish courts was nearly €58 million last year - which is down 42% since 2008.

This makes the Courts Service here one of the cheapest to run in Europe.

Work in the criminal area decreased in 2013 - with the District Court making 13% less orders than in 2012.

However, overall the District Court made almost 348,000 orders during the year and sent over 13,000 cases forward to the Circuit and Central Criminal Courts for trial.

Launching the service annual report, the Chief Justice said expenditure has been monitored closely to ensure core operations are protected.

Helen Priestley of the Courts Service says it is a warning that further cuts could harm the system.