I thank the Chairman and the committee for receiving the Estimates for the Department of the Taoiseach for 1998. I welcome the opportunity to meet with the committee for a discussion on the work of my Department and the offices under its aegis: the Offices of the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Chief State Solicitor and the Central Statistics Office. I am accompanied by the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach and the Chief Whip, Deputy Séamus Brennan, who will deal with matters relating to the Central Statistics Office. While the thrust of the committee's work must necessarily focus on the financial Estimates required by my Department and offices in 1998, it is perhaps worthwhile to advise the committee of the key strategic issues and objectives which will be progressed and funded in 1998.
First, in relation to Northern Ireland, an issue which has dominated my Department during 1998 and for many years before, the Agreement reached at the multi-party negotiations on Good Friday was the culmination of numerous years of effort by many people to consolidate peace and bring to an end 30 years of conflict. I have already paid tribute to all the parties to the Agreement for their dedication and leadership in reaching it. It is timely now in addressing the committee to pay tribute to the Members of the Oireachtas who also made an invaluable contribution over the years, particularly since 1991 when the three stranded talks began.
I pay tribute to my predecessors Charles Haughey, who was Taoiseach when the process started; Deputy Albert Reynolds, who concluded the Downing Street Declaration and made the first historic breakthrough towards ending violence; and Deputy John Bruton, who helped set the parameters and ground rules which started the talks in June 1996. I would also pay tribute to Deputy Spring who, under successive Governments, oversaw the preparation of the Framework Document. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Andrews, and the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy O'Donnell, deserve our warmest thanks for the leadership they gave the Irish Government team in the talks, as do the other Ministers and Ministers of State who attended on a regular basis since 1996. I also pay tribute to the officials and advisers of my Department and of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Justice, Equality and Law Reform for their dedicated service in achieving the Agreement.
The Agreement was a victory for the political process and having it overwhelmingly endorsed by the people of Ireland, north and south, was a vindication of the political and democratic process. Never again can anyone on the island claim any type of legitimacy for the use of violence to achieve political ends. We have now begun the next phase of the process which is the implementation of the Agreement in all its aspects. The Agreement provides that, as soon as possible after elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly, inaugural meetings of the Assembly, the British-Irish Council and the North-South Ministerial Council in their transitional forms will take place. During the transitional period between the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly and the transfer of power to it, representatives of the Northern Ireland transitional Administration and the Irish Government operating in the North-South Ministerial Council will work to agree by 31 October 1998 areas where co-operation and implementation for mutual benefit will take place.
We have a heavy work schedule ahead but we are determined to ensure that the Agreement works. We know that there will be difficulties and that there are those who will try to frustrate the process but we believe that, by working together, the two Governments and the political parties can realise the Agreement's full potential and bring about the real and substantial change necessary to achieve lasting peace. Implementation arrangements in this jurisdiction are being overseen by an interdepartmental group chaired by the Department of Foreign Affairs and comprising representatives of the Departments of the Taoiseach, Foreign Affairs, Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Attorney General's Office. It will be necessary to obtain the formal approval of the Dáil of the terms of the British-Irish Agreement before the State can agree to be bound by it.
Legislation will be required for the new implementation bodies. Other actions, such as the establishment of the human rights commission, and other measures to strengthen and underpin the constitutional protection of human rights and equal status legislation will be brought before the Oireachtas in due course. Employment equality legislation is before the Oireachtas at the moment. Orders to bring into force by the end of the June the regulations developed by the Independent International Commission and the two Governments to govern the decommissioning of paramilitary weapons will also be necessary. Other areas which may or may not require legislation are being considered by the interdepartmental group. All these actions will receive the priority attention of the Government.
The Dáil already approved the Estimate for the Referendum Commission which dealt with the information campaign on the Agreement and for the printing of the Agreement. While provision of £3 million approximately was made for the operation of the Referendum Commission, it is likely that the cost of the campaign will come to less than £2 million. The cost of printing and distributing the Agreement was approximately £400,000.
Regarding the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation, the last meeting was on 5 December 1997. At that, a number of parties put forward different suggestions about the future activities of the forum. At the conclusion of the meeting it was indicated by the chairperson that the secretary-general of the forum would contact all parties to obtain their suggestions about future activity. In addition to the suggestions made by members, proposals were made in the Dáil, both before and after 5 December, about activities which might be undertaken by or under the aegis of the forum. Proposals were also put directly to the chairperson and to the secretary-general for an early meeting of the co-ordinating committee. In the lead up to the British-Irish Agreement, the secretary-general made contact with the parties to inquire about their views as to the timing and activity of the forum. The predominant view was that having regard to the position in the talks, it would be preferable not to have meetings. Following conclusion of the Agreement and bearing in mind the need to focus energies and resources on implementing it, I believe the best course of action would be to keep the future of the forum under review for the time being.
With regard to the Sailors and Soldiers Land Trust, approximately £1.5 million in respect of this fund was lodged to the Exchequer at the end of February this year. As the committee will be aware, £150,000 of this has been approved for the Journey of Reconciliation Trust Project in Messines. This project is to be completed by 11 November 1998, Armistice Day. A sum of £36,000 has been approved for the University of Liverpool for this year. It is intended to advertise for further projects in the near future and to allocate money from September.
In the area of economic and social policy, my Department has played a leading role in the negotiation and implementation of all partnership agreements since 1987. At present it monitors the implementation of Partnership 2000. It does this at the macro level primarily through convening quarterly review meetings and the production of progress reports while at the micro level it engages in a proactive way to address the special concerns of the social partners which inevitably arise from time to time.
The social partnership process has provided the firm foundation for Ireland's impressive economic and social performance in recent years in terms of economic growth, employment creation, a largely stable industrial relations climate and a more systematic engagement on issues of poverty, social exclusion and equality. Indeed, it can reasonably be claimed that the social partnership process has delivered a more prosperous and, at the same time, a more equitable society in Ireland than any other initiative since the foundation of the State. It is imperative, therefore, that this process, which has achieved so much, be nurtured and strengthened in the years ahead and that it will continue to signpost the way forward for this country into the years of the new millennium and beyond.
With that strategic aim in mind, the Government is determined to maximise the conditions for a successor agreement when the present partnership expires in March 2000. The best way to build such a pathway is through the full implementation of Partnership 2000 and, although only 18 months old, an impressive amount of progress across a range of policy areas has been achieved already. My Department has played a central and proactive role in that regard and it will continue to build on the successes to date.
My Department's role in the area of social inclusion is to ensure that there is an integrated and coherent approach to tackling the problems of social exclusion and marginalisation. Policy on social inclusion is devised within the framework provided by Partnership 2000 and the Government's Action Programme for the Millennium. The establishment of the Cabinet subcommittee on social inclusion, which I chair, reflects the Government's commitment as set out in the Programme for Government to tackle social exclusion.
The subcommittee provides the opportunity to give political leadership in the area of social inclusion and to deal with the relevant issues in a holistic manner. It enables the Government to focus on preventative action in relation to local development issues, the national drugs strategy and the wider national anti-poverty strategy. Collectively, these programmes address issues of discrimination, education, unemployment, disadvantage and deprivation with the subcommittee overseeing and guiding proceedings.
The EU and Exchequer funded Operational Programme for Local Urban and Rural Development aims to combat social exclusion and long-term unemployment in areas of high disadvantage and social marginalisation. A bottom-up approach is taken by the programme through the involvement of local communities in deciding what are their areas' needs. The 38 partnerships work closely with local communities in identifying their needs and making the best use of the resources used to tackle them.
The territorial employment pacts are a pan-European initiative designed by the European Commission to encourage regional and local partnership in tackling long-term unemployment and disadvantage in a cohesive, co-ordinated and integrated manner. This programme has been influenced significantly by the Irish local development experience and my Department co-ordinates the activities of the four Irish pacts which are based in Dublin, Limerick, Westmeath and Dundalk/Drogheda, respectively.
The national drugs strategy team oversees the implementation of the Government's drugs strategy. The local drugs task forces ensure the effective co-ordination of drug programmes and services at local level, involve communities in the development and delivery of locally based strategies to reduce the demand for drugs and focus actions on tackling the problem in the communities where it is most severe.
The national anti-poverty strategy interdepartmental committee, which is co-chaired by my Department, monitors the achievement of the targets set out under the strategy. Its overall priority is to reduce the 9 per cent to 15 per cent of the population identified as being consistently poor to under 5 per cent to 10 per cent over the period of the strategy. It focuses on five key areas which need to be advanced to tackle poverty. These areas are unemployment, income adequacy, educational disadvantage, disadvantaged urban areas and rural poverty.
The Cabinet subcommittee is responsible for allocating the young people's facilities and services fund of £30 million. The purpose of the fund is to develop youth facilities, including sport and recreational facilities, and services in disadvantaged areas where a significant drug problem exists with a view to attracting young people in those areas at risk of becoming involved in drugs into more healthy and productive pursuits. The Cabinet subcommittee recently approved guidelines for the administration of the £20 million funding reserved for the task force areas. Proposals regarding the administration of the remaining £10 million allocated to the fund are currently being developed and will be announced as soon as they are finalised, hopefully within the next few weeks.
The national centre for partnership was established in May 1997 in accordance with Partnership 2000. Partnership 2000 has, as a key objective, the promotion of enterprise in both the private and public sectors. This is crucial for the achievement of sustainable growth. If partnership is successful it must work at the level of each workplace, where management, unions and employees can work in harmony towards commonly agreed objectives.
The aim of the centre is to foster, directly and indirectly, partnership arrangements involving the acceptance of employees as stakeholders, which will secure the competitiveness, viability and prosperity of enterprises and the modernisation of public services. The work of the centre flows from the roles which were identified for it in Partnership 2000. These are promotion of involvement and partnership; monitoring developments; technical assistance and support to organisations engaged in developing involvement and partnership arrangements; dissemination of best practice and training for management, union and staff representatives.
The centre's work programme is being actively pursued with assistance from IBEC, ICTU and other relevant organisations. Making partnership work at the level of the workplace requires effort and commitment from all concerned and the role of the centre in facilitating the process is critical. Translating partnership from a concept to a reality does and will increasingly play a positive central role in workplace arrangements and overall national development.
The Department of the Taoiseach has played a co-ordinating role in developing the International Financial Services Centre since its establishment in 1987. The IFSC clearing house group, chaired by the Secretary General, brings together representatives from the financial services industry, both in Ireland and abroad, as well as the relevant Departments and State agencies. The Department also facilitates a series of working groups which focus on the competitiveness of specific industry sectors.
The IFSC has been a remarkable success, employing more than 4,000 people directly and creating many more spin-off jobs in support industries. The centre has also been a flagship project in the economic and physical rejuvenation of Dublin. The active and dynamic partnership between public and private sectors and the leadership provided by successive Taoisigh have been central to these achievements.
The challenge over the next few years is to build on this success in the context of several changing factors, including the introduction of the new corporation tax regime, plans for the redevelopment of the wider Dublin docklands area and the evolving international business environment, including economic and monetary union. The IFSC clearing house group will try to manage these changing factors in an effective way to sustain the growth of the centre into the new millennium.
Good progress continues to be made under the strategic management initiative, the programme of change in the public service. As set out in "Delivering Better Government", the key objective is the achievement of an excellent service for the Government and the public as customers and clients at all levels, building on the good service provided at present. The preparation of new strategy statements by Departments and offices was a key requirement of the Public Service Management Act, 1997, which came into operation on 1 September last year. The new statements of all Departments and offices under their aegis have now been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and are being published.
In addition, the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, came into effect on 21 April last. A considerable effort has been put into preparing to meet the requirements of the Act which will result in major changes in the culture and practices of the Civil Service. Taken with the publication of the strategy statements, a new climate of openness and transparency in the conduct of official business has been created which is unprecedented.
Apart from the new legislation I mentioned, until now most of the effort in the strategic management initiative has been devoted to developing the proposals in the key areas of "Delivering Better Government". This effort has been harnessed through the various working and other groups which were established. Arising from their recommendations, the SMI implementation group, which is driving the change programme in the Civil Service, has prioritised four areas for action this year - human resource management, financial management, information technology and regulatory reform.
On 19 February last, following consultation with the Opposition parties, I announced the establishment of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Strategic Management Initiative. I said then that it was entirely appropriate that the Oireachtas, with which the Civil Service at official level is so deeply engaged, should be more actively involved in the process, particularly at the current stage of implementation. The committee is meeting every second week and is concentrating initially on customer service.
The pursuit of quality customer service is at the heart of the change programme. The quality customer service action plans of Departments and offices, launched towards the end of 1997, are now in operation. A system to monitor and benchmark progress across the Civil Service is currently being drawn up to ensure that the momentum is maintained in this important initiative.
The Estimates for my Department include significant amounts in respect of the McCracken and Moriarty tribunals. Deputies will be aware that the McCracken tribunal has completed its task and reported in 1997. The amount provided in the Estimates for this tribunal is principally to provide for the payment of costs awarded by Mr. Justice McCracken to parties who had appeared before the tribunal. The decision as to costs was handed down in December 1997. To date, only a small number of claims have been received which do not have a high monetary value. It is anticipated that a number of other bills will be lodged shortly, including some which will be substantial. It is considered likely that some of the more substantial claims will go before the High Court on appeal from the Taxing Master and, depending on the issue involved, the Supreme Court.
The Moriarty tribunal which was established in September 1997 is, I understand, continuing its preliminary investigative work. Deputies will be aware that the legal challenge to the tribunal by Mr. Charles Haughey and others was unsuccessful in the High Court recently. I understand that this decision has now been appealed to the Supreme Court by Mr. Haughey and that the appeal will be heard on 23 June. It is my understanding that public hearings of the tribunal will not commence until the Supreme Court has adjudicated on the appeal.
The Estimate for my Department in 1998 additionally will provide funding for the NESC, NESF, the Information Society Commission and the All Party Committee on the Constitution and the 1798 commemoration initiatives.
The Estimate for the Office of the Attorney General shows an increase over the 1997 outturn of £2.3 million approximately. This is accounted for by an expected increase in staff numbers in 1998 due to the filling of a number of vacant posts. There is a new subhead in this Vote also - General Law Expenses - whose allocation of £300,000 is primarily to meet the costs of the swimming inquiry held by Mr. Roderick Murphy. There is also an increase to £610,000 in the provision for IT consultancy to meet the cost of the first phase of a project to make available all statutes in CD-ROM format.
The 1998 Estimate for the Office of the Chief State Solicitor shows an increase over the 1997 outturn of £1.9 million approximately. This is accounted for in part by expenditure on fitting out the Office's newly refurbished premises at Osmond House. There has been an increase in staff numbers and also in the amount of fees paid to counsel. The volume of Army hearing loss claims has had a significant impact on the work of the Office and this is reflected in the Estimate.
The bulk - 83 per cent - of the expenditure in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is on fees paid to counsel who appear for the DPP. The increase in the provision is as a result of a review of the fee structures applying to criminal cases.
I will be happy to provide any further information which the committee may require in addition to the briefing papers which have already been furnished to the committee.
