Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 19 Jun 1996

Vol. 467 No. 2

Written Answers. - Strategic Management Initiative.

Mary Harney

Question:

50 Miss Harney asked the Minister for Justice the implications, if any, for her Department of the completion of the Strategic Management Initiative; the specific proposals, if any, for change that have been recommended in respect of her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12851/96]

Minister for Justice (Mrs. Owen)

As the Deputy will be aware, following the Government's agreement to the recommendations contained in the Second Report of the Co-ordinating Group of Secretaries which set out a comprehensive framework for change in the Civil Service, the report entitled Delivering Better Government was launched throughout the Civil Service on 2 May 1996. My Department reached all staff associated with it, in total approximately 4,800 people.

The recommendations for change contained in the report represent a comprehensive and integrated framework for the entire Civil Service, therefore the general principles of the recommendations are not directed specifically at any one Department but at each and every Department, reflecting the different requirements, situations and customers of each one. The report is part of, rather than the conclusion of, a process which will take several years to complete.

In line with the Government's decision in connection with the launch of Delivering Better Government I am committed to publishing my Department's statement of strategy during 1996. Work is currently under way on the preparation of this, including a process of full consultation with staff on the contents of the document, which I hope to publish during the summer. The document will provide a focus for discussion and feedback to the Department's evolving strategy.

For some time prior to the introduction of the current Strategic Management Initiative, my Department was active in strategic thinking. Particular examples include: the prisons' strategy documentThe Management of Offenders published in 1994; the Garda Síochána Corporate Strategy Police Document, 1993-97; the planned setting up of a refugee board as proposed in the Refugee Bill now before the Oireachtas; in respect of the courts, the Government has accepted, in principle, the primary recommendation contained in the first report of the Working Group on a Courts Commission that an independent and permanent body to be known as the Courts Service should be established to manage a unified Courts system; the planned conversion of the Land Registry to a semi-State basis; in the drugs area, a review of all law enforcement aspects by my Department resulted in the anti-drugs package published last year; in addition to the above, the preparation of a White Paper on crime is at an advanced stage in the Department.

A key feature of the forthcoming strategy statement will be the drawing together of the threads of the above initiatives in consultation with other elements of the public service, and other clients, into a coherent overall strategy for my Department to contribute to Government action in support of community security.

Finally, the Department is actively engaged in examining the case for establishing a prisons board in line with the commitment contained in the programme for Government.