I wish to inform the Deputy that my Department does not have responsibility for, or create, quasi autonomous NGOs. The usual acronym for such bodies is the term "quango" which stands for "quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations". As the Deputy is asking whether my Department has any such bodies under its remit I can answer that there are no quasi autonomous NGO’s which fall under the remit of my Department.
The details (since 2011) of the merger, reform or abolition of agencies under the remit of my Department is outlined below:
Legal Aid Board
Responsibility for the administration of three ad-hoc Criminal Legal Aid Schemes was transferred to the Legal Aid Board.
Garda Station Legal Advice Scheme
The Scheme provides that where a person is detained in a Garda station for the purpose of the investigation of an offence and s/he has a legal entitlement to consult with a solicitor and the person's means are insufficient to enable him/her to pay for such consultation, such consultations with solicitors will be paid for by the State. Responsibility for the administration of the Scheme was transferred to the Legal Aid Board on 1 October 2011.
Legal Aid Custody Issues Scheme
This Scheme provides payment for legal representation in the High Court and the Supreme Court for certain types of cases not covered by civil legal aid or the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme namely (i) Habeas Corpus Applications, (ii) Supreme Court Bail Motions, (iii) Judicial Reviews, (iv) Extradition Applications and European Arrest Warrants and (v) High Court Bail Motions. Responsibility for the administration of the Scheme was transferred to the Legal Aid Board on 1 June 2012.
Criminal Assets Bureau Legal Aid Scheme
The Scheme is applicable to persons who are respondents and/or defendants in any court proceedings brought by, or in the name of, the Criminal Assets Bureau including court proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996, the Revenue Acts or the Social Welfare Acts and applications made by the Director of Public Prosecutions under Section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1994. Responsibility for the administration of the Scheme was transferred to the Legal Aid Board on 1 January 2014.
It is proposed that the administration of the main Criminal Legal Aid Scheme will be transferred to the Legal Aid Board on foot of new legislation which is currently being drafted. This move will be in keeping with the international model for the delivery of legal aid and advice services and will achieve a more dedicated focus to the management and delivery of Criminal Legal Aid. It would be premature at present to commit to a date for the transfer of the scheme.
In addition, the Board took on responsibility for the Family Mediation Service in November 2011 which had been under the auspices of the Family Support Agency up to that point. A key reason for this transferring was to improve the synergies between the State funded family mediation services and the State funded civil legal aid services (most of the demand for legal services is in the area of family law). Improving the synergies will be for the benefit of the customer and will help move away from a ‘litigation first’ approach that may on occasion be too common. Already there are very positive signs from a pilot initiative operating in Dolphin House (where the Dublin District Family Court sits) involving the co-location of the courts and a mediation service with a legal service. Similar initiatives have now been introduced in Cork and Naas and are being evaluated.
Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission
The Garda Síochána Act 2005 allowed for the establishment of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to replace the Garda Síochána Complaints Board and the Garda Síochána Complaints Appeal Board.
The current status of the Complaints Board is that the final case against it was struck out by the Supreme Court on 29 November 2013. The repeal of the Garda Síochána (Complaints) Act 1986 will automatically dissolve the Garda Síochána Complaints Board and the separate Appeal Board.
The Board is made up of a Chairperson and 8 members appointed in 2012 for a five year term as it was necessary to have a Board in existence until any outstanding cases had concluded. The members do not receive any fees and their term of office will automatically cease when the Garda Síochána (Complaints) Act 1986 is repealed.
The Appeal Board is made up of a Chairperson, who must be a Judge of the Circuit Court, and two ordinary members. Their term of office expired on 16 December, 2013. No membership fee is paid to the members of the Appeal Board. The two ordinary members received a payment for each sitting of the Board. As there are no longer any cases involving the Complaints Board, the appeal function is not required and no issue arises with the expiry of the term of office.
Merger of the Valuation Office, the Property Registration Authority and Ordnance Survey Ireland
The CEO Designate of the merged body, who acts as Project Manager for the merger, has been appointed from 1 July 2013. A Project Board, comprising senior representatives of the three Departments concerned as well as the CEO's of the three Agencies, is overseeing the merger. It is anticipated that Ministerial responsibility for the Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland will be transferred to the Minister for Justice and Equality early in 2014. In addition, it is planned to bring a General Scheme of a Bill to Government for approval to draft by mid-2014.
The merger of the Valuation Office, Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Property Registration Authority provides an opportunity for more efficient and cost-effective delivery of land, spatial data and property administration services. Savings in the short to medium term are anticipated from the consolidation of common back office functions such as Human Resources, conventional ICT systems, Financial Management and a potential reduction in the cost of accommodation and software licensing. In the longer term, more efficiencies/synergies may be achievable in operational areas and through the exploitation, including where possible commercialisation, of combined data sets.
The Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority
The Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority are in the process of merging to form a new enhanced Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) to promote human rights and equality issues in an efficient effective and coherent way. The draft legislation is at a very advanced stage and I expect to publish this Bill shortly.
I might also mention that the Equality Tribunal now falls under the aegis of the Department Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation with effect 1st January, 2013, and is in the process of being merged with the Labour Relations Commission, the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the National Employment Rights Authority to form a single Workplace Relations Service.
In the context of the Deputy's question, State Agencies is taken to refer to statutory independent bodies, often (but not exclusively), with a Board which has a governance oversight responsibility for an organisation. In this regard I have detailed below the sixteen agencies under my remit:
- An Garda Síochána;
- Courts Service;
- Equality Authority and Human Rights Commission (to be merged);
- Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission;
- Irish Film Classification Office;
- Insolvency Service of Ireland;
- Legal Aid Board;
- Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board;
- National Disability Authority;
- Office of the Data Protection Commissioner;
- Office of the Inspector of Prisons;
- Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner;
- Private Security Authority;
- Property Registration Authority (to be merged with the Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSi) and Valuation Office);
- Property Services Regulatory Authority;
- Refugee Appeals Tribunal
