Departmental Expenditure

Tuesday, 19 January 2016

Questions (82)

Barry Cowen

Question:

82. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Taoiseach the total amount of money spent on the Office of the Attorney General; the total number of staff; the total number of staff in the office of the parliamentary draftsman per annum from 2011 to 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46121/15]

View answer

Written answers

The Taoiseach

In the years 2011 to 2015 the Office of the Attorney General (AGO) spent the following:

Year	Amount Spent
2011	€ 11.146 million
2012	€ 11.233 million
2013	€ 11.430 million
2014	€ 11.034 million
2015	€ 11.143 million (provisional outturn).

These figures exclude expenditure relating to the Law Reform Commission which is funded by a grant through the AGO Vote.

The total number of staff (including contract staff) at the end of each year was as follows:

Year	Number of Staff
2011	126.4 (including 9 contract staff)
2012	135.3 (including 7 contract staff)
2013	128.6 (including 7 contract staff)
2014	127.7 (including 8 contract staff)
2015	134.4 (including 6 contract staff)

The total number of permanent drafting (Parliamentary Counsel) staff at the end of each year was as follows:

Year	Permanent Staff
2011	26.8
2012	29.4
2013	29.4
2014	29.6
2015	30.6

The total number of consultant Parliamentary Counsel at the end of each year was as follows (these figures are not included in the totals given above. Also, the figures for consultants represent the WTE at the end of the year: not all consultants were working fulltime for the Office):

Year	Consultant Parliamentary Counsel
2011	-2.5
2012	-1.5
2013	-1.5
2014	-0.25
2015	- 1.25.

The drafting staff were supported by general civil service staff who also supported the legal advisory specialists (Advisory Counsel).

Throughout each year the Office of the Attorney General monitors its resources, including staff numbers, to ensure that it is able to discharge a heavy workload and meet the demands of its clients.