The move has been sparked by fears that waiting times in the court, particularly on the civil side, could end up at a similar level to those in the Supreme Court before 2014 - which prompted the establishment of the Court of Appeal.

Mr Justice George Birmingham, president of the Court of Appeal, and Mr Justice Frank Clarke, the Chief Justice, have been speaking out over the shortage of appeal judges since last summer.

New primary legislation will be brought forward by Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan within days in order to provide for the increase in Court of Appeal judges.

Commenting, Mr Flanagan said: “It is clear that the Court of Appeal has a very significant volume of work, both in terms of the caseload it inherited from the Supreme Court on its establishment as a new court in 2014, and of the volume of new cases it is taking on in its own right.

“On the criminal side, the current waiting time is an acceptable six months. However on the civil side it is much longer. I do not want to see a situation where those waiting times could end up at a similar level to that of the Supreme Court prior to 2014. Waiting times then were over four years.”