Mary Harney
Question:1 Miss Harney asked the Taoiseach the specific proposals, if any, being considered by the high level review group on the law offices of the State. [4345/97]
Ceisteanna—Questions. - State Law Offices.
On 15 October 1996, in reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 1 and 2, I announced the establishment of a high level group to provide a strategic overview of the law offices of the State. The terms of reference of the group require it to identify the strategic policy issues common to the law offices which necessitate detailed examination and consideration and to make recommendations to Government for action to ensure the legal services provided to the State are structured and managed to provide the highest quality service.
The group comprises senior managers from the office of the Attorney General, the office of the Chief State Solicitor, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Finance, the Department of Justice and the office of the Tánaiste and an international expert in law office management. The Attorney General chairs the group.
The group has met on five occasions to date. I understand it is considering the key organisational and strategic issues identified in the various organisational and strategic reviews in relation to the office of the Attorney General, the office of the Chief State Solicitor and the office of the DPP. These issues include: the appropriate structures and systems required to provide high quality services; the relationship between the various offices; the relationship between individual offices and Government Departments; the area of claims against the State; and the role of various organisations in relation to prosecutions. It would be inappropriate for me to refer in any detail to the group's consideration of these issues since they involve close consultation with the relevant offices and individuals.
The Government has asked the group to report within the next four months. I look forward to receiving its report, which will be given early and full consideration.
Does the Taoiseach accept the Deloitte Touche report into the Chief State Solicitor's office, which states that there are no accountable management structures or proper procedures there? It states that the office is not in a position to meet efficiently or effectively the demands placed on it.
That is the subject of a question for next week. This question concerns the high level group which is looking at strategic issues common to all the offices and the Deputy is asking about a report on a particular office. I would be happy to answer that question but another Deputy has put a question down on the matter for next week and I do not wish to prejudice the response to that question.
Let us not anticipate that question.
That is what the Taoiseach told me when I asked about the Anthony Duncan extradition case. He said that the Minister for Justice had a question, which he transferred, tabled on the matter. I had tabled the question.
This question is to me.
That is not an acceptable answer from a Taoiseach who promised so much. Why was this report not published? Why has it been leaked although the Government has had it since November? It is not good enough for the Taoiseach to say he will wait another week to answer the question. My question is about the Chief State Solicitor's office and other offices and therefore I am entitled to an answer today from the Taoiseach.
If a specific question is tabled, we should await that reply.
A question is tabled and I am happy to answer it. However, I do not wish to prejudice the rights of a Deputy who has tabled a specific question. Deputy Harney is asking a separate question.
The report was received in November and was immediately acted upon. As a result of the report on the Chief State Solicitor's office, very substantial decisions were taken to invest resources in that office to remedy the specific deficiencies identified in the Chief State Solicitor's office. For instance, in this year's Estimates there was an increase of 26 per cent in the amount allocated for staff. There was an increase of 204 per cent allocated under the heading of incidental expenses, which is chiefly to do with staff training and development. That expenditure was substantially necessary and is now under way. Third, there was a 100 per cent increase in the allocation for office machinery which is going into the computerisation of the office. Substantial decisions have been taken to remedy the deficiencies identified in the report and that has been under way for the past two to three months. I look forward to answering this question in further detail next week when the question that specifically relates to this is tabled.
In the life of this Government we have witnessed a litany of administrative errors in the criminal justice system, such as the shredding of the extradition warrant, the breakdown of communication in the Department of Justice, the Department's relationship with the Attorney General's office and the recent report on the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Yesterday saw the report Deputy Harney referred to on the Chief State Solicitor's office. It has been stated that the office is facing imminent disaster——
The Deputy should ask a question.
——and the Taoiseach is listing everything that has been resolved. The office does not have an adequate telephone system.
Does the Taoiseach believe the public can have confidence in the criminal justice system when it reads about so many of these matters every week? Should we take the Taoiseach's weekend statement literally, when he said that this Government has set most of our people free?
I remind the Deputy that for many years he was the Minister responsible for the Vote of the Chief State Solicitor's office. He did absolutely nothing about any of the problems of that office during that time.
The Taoiseach has been in office for over two years.
I have taken responsibility in this matter.
The Taoiseach has been put on notice.
Mistakes keep happening.
Let us hear the reply.
I commissioned the report in question, brought in an international expert to advise on the matter and have now provided hugely increased resources to deal with problems in the Chief State Solicitor's office which were neglected for the eight years that Deputy Bertie Ahern's party was in power.
If people wish to ensure that this action continues, they can draw their own conclusions as to how best that can be done.
In the interests of openness and transparency, will the Taoiseach ensure this report is published?
I have no problem with publishing the report.
Why was the report not published?
It was not published because it contained a number of internal administrative matters which affected identifiable individuals. All of the difficulties identified in the report are in the process of being remedied. There is no problem with publishing the report.
Why is the office of the Tánaiste listed in this group?
The office of the Tánaiste is an important one and this a partnership Government.
That is not good enough.
We have dwelt on this question for 15 minutes and time is limited.
I am glad Deputy Dermot Ahern has asked this question because he has given the public his views on how coalitions should operate by particular reference to Deputy Harney's party.
I have asked a question about the law offices of the State and the Taoiseach has given a flippant answer. What was the rationale for the office of the Tánaiste being brought into this? Normally that office would have nothing to do with the law offices of the State.
The Deputy should stop digging.
That says it all. The Taoiseach's answer has let the cat out of the bag.
The time is limited and we shall have priority questions at 3.15 p.m. We have been a quarter of an hour on one question and that is not satisfactory.
The Taoiseach was late.
It is not the fault of the Ceann Comhairle but we lost time.
My responsibility is that as many questions as possible are answered.
Most of the questions are ruled out.
Or have received smart answers.
The Deloitte Touche report mentions the appointment of extra judges and the extension of the legal calendar as some of the reasons for the delay. As these measures were introduced by the Government to address problems in the system, would the Taoiseach agree that more foresight should have been shown and such difficulties would not then have arisen? The Government went ahead with these changes and put pressure on the office without any consideration for the staff.
All of these matters are to be dealt with in an integrated way. The Government is obviously taking steps to improve the performance of the courts by providing them with additional resources. A Courts Bill was approved today in Cabinet which will be introduced in the Seanad as part of the Government's programme for streamlining and improving the courts service. In parallel with that we are taking steps to improve the performance of the Chief State Solicitor's office by unprecedented large increases in resources for training, information technology and staff in that office. That is to remedy years of neglect of the legal services by previous Governments.