The Courts Service dealt with 685,000 matters during 2015, with the figures showing a drop in drink driving cases and an increase in divorce.

There was also a sharp rise in debt settlements and a five per cent increase in the number of people being declared bankrupt.

Of the almost 700,000 criminal, civil and family law matters, more than 436,471 related to crime. The vast bulk of the criminal matters, 405,007, came before the District Court, and of these 61 per cent related to road traffic offences.

The figures, released today by the Courts Service, show there were 7,218 orders made in relation to drink driving, a 15 per cent decrease on the previous year, and a 36 per cent decrease on 2013.

Despite the drop in drink driving orders, there was no fall off in the number of dangerous driving cases (3,923) that came before the courts.

In relation to civil matters, 248,245 came before the courts in 2015, and 190,763 were resolved. The bulk of the new matters (147,617) came before the District Court.

There were 18,992 personal injuries suits filed in 2015, a seven per cent increase on the previous year. The biggest High Court award was €13.52 million, and the smallest was €208.

There was a 9 per cent increase in the number of divorce applications in 2015, to 4,314 , of which 24 were in the High Court, and the rest in the Circuit Court.

Applications in the District Court in relation to domestic violence increased by 6 per cent, to 14,374.

The Commercial Court saw a 13 per cent decrease in new cases, to 148. There were 471 people adjudicated a bankrupt, of which 457 were initiated by the people themselves.

The courts received 1,735 applications under the debt resolution mechanism introduced by the Personal Insolvency Act 2012, an 84 per cent jump on 2014.

There were 28,978 matters that came to the Circuit Criminal Court, of which 23,441 were resolved. Almost half (45 per cent) of the cases related to either theft, fraud or robbery.

The Court of Appeal, which was established in October 2014, dealt with 363 new appeals and 387 legacy cases during the year, with 33 per cent of the appellants in the new court being lay litigants.

There was a 84 per cent jump in debt settlements, to 1,734, and a 93 per cent jump in employment dismissal appeals to 135.

Possession orders, which can involve family homes but also other assets, were down 40 per cent, to 113, in the High Court, and up 21 per cent in the Circuit Court, to 1,284. Overall, there was a 38 per cent decrease in new possession cases coming before the courts, to 5,169.

The non-jury Special Criminal Court heard 23 cases. There were three guilty pleas, four convictions, and 16 acquittals. Six cases were withdrawn.