Gay Mitchell
Ceist:1 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Taoiseach the number of additional legal experts who have been recruited by the Attorney General's Office since the Government assumed office.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Staffing in Attorney General's Office.
Two senior parliamentary draftsmen have been appointed to the Attorney General's office in the period in question. It is likely that there will also be recruitment of legal assistants, additional to the filling of an existing vacancy for a legal assistant.
In keeping with the Government's commitment to passing the legislation necessary to implement the provisions of the Programme for a Partnership Government, we are examining the need to have additional legal expertise in individual Departments based on the legislative requirements of Departments. We will recruit additional legal personnel judged necessary in the light of that examination.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. Does he consider that this meets the paragraph on drafting legislation set out in page 42 of the Programme for Government? I would draw the attention of the Taoiseach to page 18 of that programme which states that the Government proposes to put a time limit on debates on Bills at Second Stage and to examine the introduction of a procedure to allow individual Members to introduce Bills of a non-controversial nature. In keeping with that promise, will the Taoiseach consider recruiting staff to the Houses of the Oireachtas so that Members of the House wishing to introduce Private Members' Bills can be facilitated?
The Deputy is asking a separate question. We are talking here about the Attorney General's office, its staffing and what we are doing about it. I draw the attention of the House to the fact that 43 Bills have been published this year, a 100 per cent increase on previous years; 32 Bills were listed for publication, 12 have been published and we are expecting another 11 shortly. There will also be two Bills which are not on the list. That illustrates a big advance from where we were but the Government is not satisfied that it completes the picture. Some Government Departments would be well served by having legal assistants attached to their Departments. There are a few very good legal assistants in the system but if that can be extended into Government itself so that the preparatory work which needs to be done can be completed before the Bill goes to the Attorney General's office, that would be a very good advance because the delays that take place in the Attorney General's office are often caused by details that could have been worked out in the Departments if they had people trained to do it. The Deputy will appreciate that it takes about ten years to train a parliamentary draftsman and such people are very difficult to find. I know that recently the Attorney General has been considering a retired Irish person in another country who might wish to come home who could be a great help in training younger people. We have improved things significantly in a short period. If we manage to find the right people to put into some Departments legislation will be produced more quickly.
Will the Taoiseach agree, as almost all Bills are now going to committees, that the main Opposition spokespersons, not just the main Opposition spokespersons of the biggest party, are at a great disadvantage in that they are presented with Bills with perhaps a week within which to consider them and have no drafting assistants available whereas the chairperson and the convenor of each of these committees have a certain amount of resources available to them? Will the Taoiseach consider making resources, at least assistants for the drafting of amendments to Bills, available to the main Opposition parties so that the Legislature can do the job which it is meant to do?
The question deals with recruitment to the Attorney General's office. We are having quite an extension of that question.
We will look at what the Deputy is suggesting in the context of Oireachtas reform, but the type of people for whom we are looking are not readily available.
Is it not the case that if the Revenue Commissioners want to produce new legislation to impose a tax on people, they can do it literally overnight because they have their own legal drafting in-house, whereas if another Department wants to produce legislation of the same complexity it takes a year because of the requirement on them to go to the parliamentary draftsman's office? Will the Taoiseach agree that the imbalance between law reform and tax is a symptom of what is wrong with our public administration as, like Government policy, it is based towards increasing taxation?
I do not accept that.
Let us not stray from the question.
I do not accept the principle of what Deputy Bruton is saying in relation to the ability of the Revenue Commissioners to produce Bills quickly.
Overnight.
Overnight in some cases, but they are heavily endowed with people with expertise in that area. We have been looking at the possibility of getting other Departments to recruit people with expertise so that they can do a better job and more in-depth preparatory work before Bills come to the Attorney General's office because sometimes that is where the logjam appears. We have very good draftsmen who have not been legally trained in some Departments, but over a period of years they have acquired that expertise and the technical staff. I am sure Deputy Bruton would be aware of some of those. We are trying to strike a balance in both respects, trying to recruit people in the Departments who can take part of the workload and at the same time train people for the Attorney General's office.
A number of Deputies are offering. I remind the House that in accordance with an Order of the Dáil of 7 February last 30 minutes only are allowed on Tuesdays for questions to the Taoiseach. Deputies should bear that in mind.
Will the Taoiseach's proposals require a change in Cabinet procedure instructions because at present drafting must be carried out in the Parliamentary Draftsman's office. Under existing instructions, Departments are not allowed to draft their own legislation.
The preparatory work and the detail involved in preparing legislation for the draftsman can speed up the process. Frequently the draftsman spends a lot of time on details which should have been dealt with in the Department involved if it had the expertise to do so. Deputy Bruton is correct in that, in the final analysis, it is the draftsman who drafts legislation, but if his work is made easier he could produce many more Bills.
I hope that the word "draftsman" will be changed to "drafts-person" following the enactment of the Interpretation Bill. Would the Taoiseach consider in certain circumstances contracting out the drafting of Bills?
I have asked the Attorney General to consider that matter as some Bills might be suitable for contracting out to legal people. However, from the Attorney General's advice that is not possible in the case of a large number of Bills, but the Government has advised that some short or less intricate Bills may be suitable for contracting out and the people in the Law Library may be of assistance in that regard. We have advised the Attorney General to contract out the drafting of any Bills he believes suitable.
Will the new staffing at the Office of the Attorney General enable that office to sort out its apparent problems with producing the Extradition (Amendment) Bill? When does the Taoiseach expect that Bill to come before the House?
I have stated already that there is a vacancy for a legal assistant and that two senior parliamentary draftsmen have been appointed to the office. The Whips are monitoring the matter every week and we believe that if we can sort out the problem before it gets to the office of the Attorney General we will produce many more Bills. Suitable people are not easy to find. It takes approximately ten years to train a person in the expertise required in that area. We are not opposed to recruiting more people to the office but, from the point of view of producing Bills, it would be more advantageous to have more work carried out in the Departments and less piled on to the Attorney General and parliamentary draftsman.
The Taoiseach did not answer my question. I asked him specifically if the new staffing arrangements would assist the Attorney General's office in bringing forward the Extradition (Amendment) Bill and when we might expect that Bill to come before the House.
I have stated on various occasions in the House that that Bill will be published before Christmas.