Skip to main content
Normal View

Civil Defence Board

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 February 2012

Wednesday, 8 February 2012

Questions (20)

Catherine Murphy

Question:

19Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Defence if he will confirm that in the proposed abolition of the Civil Defence Board, sufficient plans exist to effectively manage the merger of staff into his Department; if he will outline any potential inefficiencies which may arise as a result of the merger and existing proposals to mitigate against these; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6828/12]

View answer

Oral answers (3 contributions)

Staff assigned to the Civil Defence Board have always been part of the overall authorised and serving numbers in my Department. Following the enactment of the Civil Defence Act 2002, my Department continued to provide administrative support services in respect of human resources, payroll, training, information and communications technology and so on for the staff of the board. The ongoing provision of these services will not be affected by the abolition of the board.

It is not expected that inefficiencies will arise as a result of the abolition of the Civil Defence Board. On the contrary, in terms of the transfer of its functions back to my Department, it is estimated that the savings in running costs will be at least €60,000 per annum. In addition, there will be an increase in the amount of time staff assigned to civil defence can devote to its core functions.

When does the Minister expect to bring civil defence legislation before the House?

Work is under way on the legislation. I do not want to give an exact date for its introduction because I am conscious that it will have to be finalised not only by my Department but also by the Attorney General's office. The latter, I understand, is under substantial pressure as a consequence of all the legislation emerging from my own and other Departments. Taken together with the legislation we are obliged to publish within a defined timeframe under the EU-IMF agreement, it is difficult to predict a date of publication for the Bill, but the likelihood is that we will not see it until the autumn. It is very much subject to the pressures exerted by the demands of my own and other Departments.

Top
Share