I welcome the opportunity to meet the select committee to discuss the revised Estimates for the Department of the Taoiseach and associated offices: the Central Statistics Office, the Office of the Attorney General, the Office Director of Public Prosecutions and the Office of the Chief State Solicitor. The activities outlined in the Estimate for the Department reflect the central role it plays in advancing the priorities of the Government. I will outline to the committee the key objectives and projects which will be progressed during 2002.
The date, 10 April, will mark the fourth anniversary of the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, an agreement achieved after intensive negotiations between representatives of all the major traditions on the island, Unionist, Nationalist, republican and loyalist. The Agreement, which addresses all the key issues - constitutional, within Northern Ireland, between North and South and east-west arrangements - was the culmination of many years of effort devoted to the achievement of a peace settlement in Northern Ireland.
Over the course of the past four years we have faced many difficult issues. While the achievement of the Agreement was in itself historic, its implementation has required careful and determined management. The referendums, North and South, the establishment of the institutions, the achievement of decommissioning, the establishment of a new police service, have all been significant milestones along the way - all of them unthinkable to previous generations, but now realisable because of the determination of both Governments and the pro-Agreement parties to work together and keep the process moving forward.
Under the Agreement, constitutional arrangements in Britain and Ireland place the future of Northern Ireland firmly in the hands of its people. Without their consent, there will be no constitutional change. Under the Agreement, a unique set of interlocking and interdependent political institutions are working productively and effectively on behalf of all the people and a new dispensation in the areas of human rights and equality is being created.
We have not done this work in isolation. Our many friends in the United States, successive US Administrations, the European Union and the international community generally have been a constant support, both through the special programmes that have been put in place to support the process and through their advice and counsel when difficult issues have had to be faced. Their support for our efforts remains strong and committed and it is very much appreciated.
The question of policing in Northern Ireland has always been particularly divisive. It is, therefore, welcome to see the new Police Service in place with a Policing Board, which includes representatives of both communities, making a very good start. It seems there is a strong level of interest among Catholics in joining the new service.
There is no doubt that work remains to be done. There are aspects of the Agreement and the commitments made by the Governments at Weston Park which have yet to be fully realised. Violence, while greatly reduced, is still with us. Sectarianism remains a corrosive influence and there are communities where paramilitaryorganisations still wield a terrible control. There are also some who have yet to be convinced that the Agreement with its guarantee of equality and its protection of the interests and identities of both traditions truly represents the best hope for us all. Change is always unsettling. For some, it comes too slowly, for others, too fast. If we are to build a future brighter than our past, change is necessary.
We now stand closer to the achievement of the goal of lasting peace and reconciliation on these islands than at any time in our history. There are challenges that remain to be met, but these should not be allowed to blind us to the scale of the achievement and the distance we have travelled in such a relatively brief period of time. The Agreement is our template mapping out the road to a society built on the principles of partnership, equality and mutual respect. As politicians, it is up to us to provide the vision and leadership necessary to complete our journey.
In addition to providing the necessary support on matters relating to Northern Ireland generally and our efforts to secure the full implementation of the Agreement, the Northern Ireland division of my Department is responsible for a number of subheads in the Estimates being considered by the committee this afternoon. Regarding grants under the Irish Sailors and Soldiers Land Trust Act, 1988, the amount of €34,000 in subhead C of the Estimate for 2002 is the amount expected to be disbursed to projects this year. Following an advertisement and assessment process completed in 1999, funding was allocated to 59 successful projects. A sum of £714,253 or €906,904 was disbursed in 1999. The process of releasing funding to projects will continue this year and into next year in order to meet all commitments as they arise until such time as the remaining €175,000 of the original fund is disbursed. Projects expected to receive funding in 2002 include the RNLI and the Irish Episcopal Commission for Emigrants for the making of an educational video for schools to provide an insight into the achievements of the Irish in Britain.
In subhead E, €63,000 has been allocated for commemoration initiatives to provide funding for commemorations of different periods or events for which commemoration is appropriate or proposed from civil society. The amount of €52,000 in subhead D of the Department's Vote for 2002 is a contingency provision to cover costs associated with meetings of the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation which might be convened throughout the year. There were no meetings in 2001.
There is an amount of €635,000 in subhead M of the Department's Vote to allow for all costs associated with the independent commission of inquiry, under the sole member, Judge Henry Barron, into bombings in Dublin, Monaghan and Dundalk and their sequel. It is hoped when Judge Barron has gathered and examined all the available information, he will be in a position to report on the bombings in line with his terms of reference. He will also report on the Dublin bombings of 1972 and 1973 and a number of other cases which he has considered mainly in the context of the broad security landscape of the time. The report will be published. It is the intention, as of now and taking into account the awaited decision of the Supreme Court in the Abbeylara case, that it would be considered by an Oireachtas committee.
The Department of the Taoiseach plays a key role in the formulation of national economic and social policy and providing advice for the Taoiseach and the Government. The Department continues to oversee the progressive implementation of the wide-ranging set of commitments contained in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. Good progress has been made in implementing the PPF as indicated in the quarterly progress reports available on-line on the Department's website. The Department provides the secretariat to the Cabinet committees on social inclusion and children. It is also represented on the advisory committee for the National Children's Office. We also work closely with other Departments to advance a range of social inclusion objectives and programmes.
The review of the national anti-poverty strategy, in consultation with the social partners, was completed during 2001. The revised strategy was launched by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs on 27 February.
The Department leads the cross-departmental team and provides the secretariat to the Cabinet committee on infrastructure and public-private partnerships. The team facilitated continued progress in the delivery of key infrastructural priorities and addressing key policy issues, including the public transport strategy for Dublin, the national roads programme, energy infrastructure, enhanced programme and project management, planning issues, integrated land use and transport arrangements for Dublin and construction capacity. The Department also continues to be involved in the development of the International Financial Services Centre in Dublin.
Subhead B deals with the National Economic and Social Council. The National Economic and Social Council provides advice to the Government on the development of the economy and the achievement of social justice. There is provision of €773,000 in the 2002 Estimates to fund the council's activities.
The National Economic and Social Forum was established by Government in 1993 as an advisory body on major economic and social policy issues and has published a number of publications in that regard. It was re-constituted in 1998 and given a particular remit to focus on measures concerned with the achievement of equality and social inclusion. A total of €773,000 is provided for in the Estimates for 2002 to fund the forum's work.
The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness provided for an enhanced role for the National Centre for Partnership and for its re-designation as the National Centre for Partnership and Performance, the NCPP. The centre's role is to provide a strategic focus to the deepening of partnership and improvement of performance in the workplace in both the private and public sectors. The centre's council held its inaugural meeting in October 2001. Provision of €932,000 has been made in the 2002 Estimates to fund the centre's activities.
An amount of €600,000 has been provided in subhead N for the National Economic and Social Development Office, NESDO. Legislation will be published shortly to make provision for the establishment of this new office, comprising the NESC, the NESF and the NCPP. The legislation will put these three bodies on a statutory basis as part of the new office. It will facilitate the emergence of new synergies between the bodies, complementary work programmes and shared administration services.
As part of the information society agenda, the Vote provides for €2.5 million in subhead A8 for information society initiatives, including the e-Cabinet project; the Equalskills project; and €717,000 for the Information Society Commission.
The Department continues to lead the development of the information society and e-government in Ireland. During 2001, we put in place new structures to drive its development at the highest levels including a new Cabinet Committee on the Information Society, an e-strategy group of Secretaries General which will advance key aspects of the information society agenda across all Departments, an expanded information society policy unit within the Department of the Taoiseach and a new Information Society Commission, chaired by Dr. Danny O'Hare, which will monitor Ireland's performance as an information society.
Our extensive work in the area of e-government has gained international recognition over the past year. In the first e-government benchmarking exercise carried out by the European Commission last November, Ireland distinguished itself by being rated best overall. Of the EU states surveyed, we were ranked first.
I am also pleased to report continued good progress with the modernisation of the public service under the strategic management initiative. Important recent developments include an independent evaluation of progress to date in the modernisation programme, which will help to identify the critical next steps in the modernisation process; new customer action plans for Departments and offices for the period 2001-2004; implementation of the performance management and development system in Departments; moves towards greater devolution of authority for human resource management to Departments and offices; a new gender equality policy for the Civil Service; the establishment of a high level group to co-ordinate implementation of regulatory reform; continuing progress on the introduction of new financial management systems to support a modern management information framework, a project in which my own Department is well-advanced; and each Department is required to report on performance indicators to a Civil Service Quality Assurance Group which has members from outside the Civil Service.
A total of £33 million of Exchequer funding was made available through the Department's Vote for suitable millennium projects. All of this funding has been committed to projects recommended by the National Millennium Committee and approved by the Government.
The 2002 Estimate makes a provision of €3.8 million to meet outstanding commitments for approved projects and relates almost entirely to capital projects. There are now a small number of projects for which funding remains to be drawn down.
The other relatively large allocation in the Estimate is €6.349 million to fund the ongoing work of the Moriarty tribunal. There is also a contingency provision of €1.27 million for any outstanding legal costs that might fall due in respect of the McCracken tribunal.
An allocation of £338,000 has been made for the All-Party Committee on the Constitution. The committee secretariat is provided by the Institute of Public Administration, with funding from my Department. An amount of €2 million has been provided in subhead O of this Department's Vote for the National Forum on Europe in 2002.
The forum has made excellent progress on its work programme since its launch on 18 October 2001. The current programme of the forum will run up to Easter at which stage it will have held 18 full plenary meetings, two outside Dublin - in Cork on 6 December 2001 and Galway on 28 February 2002. In addition to the full plenaries, the forum also held nine mini-fora at regional centres throughout the country and also covering Dublin West and Dublin North.
A wide range of topics has been covered both in terms of the impact of enlargement, our relationship with the European Union and the areas of concern to our national interests. The work of the forum continues to promote debate on these key issues, clarifying positions and communicating its work to the public. This is happening in tandem with our involvement with the Convention on the Future of Europe.
At the European Council in Barcelona, the Taoiseach took the opportunity to brief his EU colleagues on the work of the forum and to explain that it has helped to clarify many issues. In particular, the Taoiseach emphasised that both the Government and all the major political parties are committed to enlargement and to the ratification of the Nice treaty by the end of the year.
I want to refer now to the other Votes which are the subject of today's meeting. The Central Statistics Office is responsible for the collection, processing and dissemination of official statistics on economic and social conditions in Ireland. While the main focus is on the statistical requirements of Government, there is a wide community of users nationally, including the social partners, numerous public bodies, business, universities, research institutes and the general public. There is also a significant international dimension to the work of the office, with EU requirements affecting most areas of statistics.
Net expenditure in 2001 amounted to €39.382 million. The 2002 Estimate provides an allocation of €53.358 million to meet the operational costs of the office.
A census of population will be taken on Sunday, 28 April this year. The census was originally scheduled to have taken place in April 2001 but this was deferred, as a precautionary measure, on the advice of the expert group on foot and mouth disease.
Preparations were at a very advanced stage last year when the decision to defer the census was made. The premises, equipment and new technology to process the census had all been acquired, field staff had been selected, and the census form had been printed.
Census 2002 will include a number of new questions. These include PC ownership and access to the Internet; membership of theTraveller community; a question on unpaid help given to a friend or family member; and twoquestions on disability. The census also includes questions on housing, which are asked every ten years.
The census form has been designed for scanning, which will speed up the availability of results. Preliminary results will be published within three months of census day and all the results of the 2002 census will be made available within two years of census day.
The number of staff provided for in the CSO's 2002 Vote is approximately 781, including staff assigned to process the census of population.
The Estimate for the Office of the Attorney General is €11.902 million. This provides for the operating costs of the office and general law expenses. A total of €6.207 million is in respect of salaries, wages and allowances. A total of €1.237 million is being provided in respect of consultancy services. A total of €1.338 million is being provided for office machinery and other supplies. A total of €873,000 is earmarked for incidental expenses, €248,000 of which is for staff training and development.
A total of €1.348 million is being provided by way of a grant-in-aid to the Law Reform Commission, whose second programme of law reform was launched in February following consultation with the Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights.
The Estimate for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is €24.955 million. The DPP's Vote provides for the salaries and expenses of the director and his staff, fees to counsel engaged by the director to prosecute cases in the various courts, and legal costs awarded against the State arising out of judicial review and other legal proceedings.
This provision is an increase of €8.68 million on the 2001 out-turn, reflecting the transfer of the criminal prosecution functions of the Chief State Solicitor to the Office of the DPP in December 2001 and the increased provision for fees to counsel required to deal with a general increase in the volume of business before the courts.
The Estimate for the Office of the Chief State Solicitor is €29.158 million. The Vote provides for the operating costs of the office, which includes salaries, wages and allowances, consultancy services, fees due to Counsel for litigation on behalf of the Attorney General and legal costs awarded as a result of litigation.
I thank the committee members for their attention and hope I have not detained them too long.
