Vol. 472 No. 7
1 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Taoiseach if a checklist is utilised by him or his Department to ensure implementation of Cabinet decisions; and the procedures operated by him or his Department for monitoring the implementation of Cabinet decisions. [22763/96]
Responsibility for implementation of Government decisions rests with the member of the Government primarily concerned. Government decisions are conveyed by letter from the Secretary to the Government addressed to the private secretary to the promoting Minister as soon as possible after a Government meeting.
In relation to my own Department, decisions of the Government based on submissions from me are implemented and monitored by the division or section with appropriate functional responsibility.
Will the Taoiseach accept that the failure of a Minister to implement a Government decision in relation to the Special Criminal Court was an appealing act of gross negligence? Will he say if it is compounded by the fact that minutes of the previous meeting would have been read at the subsequent Cabinet meeting, thereby reminding the Minister concerned of the necessity to ensure a decision was implemented?
I take it the Deputy is referring to matters that have already been the subject of extensive debate here, matters which the Government made clear from the outset it took very seriously, matters on which it had independent reports prepared which it laid before the House and matters on which the Government has put the necessary procedures in place to ensure they do not recur.
I take it the Taoiseach accepts it is the responsibility of the individual Minister concerned. In that regard will he accept it is a logical follow-on that accountability in respect of a serious omission or any omission should also be accepted by the Minister concerned who should, obviously, accept the consequences?
The Minister for Justice — the Minister to whom I take it the Deputy is referring — gave a full account of the situation here and when this failing within her Department was discovered went so far as to commission an independent report on the subject which was laid before the House and debated. The Minister was also further accountable in that she took an extensive series of questions from the Deputy and others over a long period. She was accountable in a very full way for this matter.
The Taoiseach has stated there are now procedures in place to ensure this will not recur. It has come to my notice that in the west a district court clerk who was to have been appointed by the Minister for Justice in early October 1996 continued working until 5 December 1996 and issued summonses without having been properly appointed or assigned by the Minister for Justice, pursuant to section 46(2) of the Court Officers Act, 1926. In that respect will he——
The Deputy is raising a particular matter worthy of a separate question.
It is a very interesting one.
I will not ask a question on that matter now having drawn it to the Taoiseach's attention.
I have agreed, if I have not as yet communicated with the Deputy, that the matter is deemed in order for the Adjournment Debate. Should we then anticipate it now?
I am merely pointing it out to the Taoiseach since he is present. Will he accept in the light of that and other matters there is now a necessity for the Minister for Justice to ensure that all appointments made by her are proper and valid in accordance with the law of the land? Will he explain why that has not been done up to now?
We should await the Adjournment Debate. It was not the intention of the Chair that the Deputy should have the facility of having two bites at this cherry.
I accept your ruling.
Will the Taoiseach accept that an elaborate and costly system of bureaucracy was set up a number of years ago, i.e. the programme managers system, one of the main reasons for which was to ensure Cabinet decisions, once made, were implemented? In regard to the recent mess in the Department of Justice and the Communication of that decision made by Government to the Department of Justice where stood the programme managers system?
So far as the programme manager system in the Department of Justice is concerned, Deputy John O'Donoghue's Question No. 254 on this matter tabled on 26 November deals fully with the matter. Therefore, I do not propose to answer in regard to a question that has already been answered.
In general, the programme manager system and the programme managers as individuals are not involved in the administration of decisions once taken. Their responsibility is in the policy area and in the preparation of proposals for decision. The implementation on an administrative basis, of decisions taken by Cabinet is a matter not for programme managers.
It should be.
Not at all.
