Enda Kenny
Question:1 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the Nally report under the reorganisation of the Chief State Solicitor's Office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27098/02]
Ceisteanna – Questions. - Office of the Chief State Solicitor.
I am pleased to inform the House that the Nally report has been largely implemented and that the detail is available in both the annual reports of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Office of the Attorney General, which were published in December 2002.
Arrangements are in train to bring forward the necessary legislation to transfer the responsibility for the State solicitor service from the Attorney General to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Consultations have commenced in this regard.
Is there a reason for the reduction of 24% in the travel budget for the Office of the Chief State Solicitor and is the Taoiseach happy that this will not impact on the operations of the State prosecution service?
To the best of my knowledge, the office had no difficulties with the budget allocation for this year. I think it had queries early on about staffing, but they were resolved. The report is now completed. There has been an increase of 75 staff, including 66 in the professional-technical area. The agreement is now fully in place and I can go through the details if Deputies wish. However, all the aspects we have dealt with in previous questions have now been addressed and the additional staff are in place.
Is the burden of all the various tribunals an exceptional one on the Office of the Chief State Solicitor?
It is in an enormous way. The office is obviously dealing with all the tribunals in one form or another, and this has put much pressure on it. This is partly why we have increased the level of staff to the present level in recent years. On a number of occasions during my term in office, we had to increase the complement across all areas to deal with the huge amount of work associated with all the inquiries and tribunals under way.