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Departmental Reports

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 June 2013

Wednesday, 12 June 2013

Ceisteanna (164)

Seán Fleming

Ceist:

164. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will set out the value for money reports and the focused policy assessments carried out within his Department since March 2011; the actions that have been taken to implement such reports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28178/13]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

A Value for Money Review was carried out by my Department on the Legal Aid Board during 2011, with the report published in 2012. The recommendations from this Value for Money Review and the current position in relation to these recommendations are set out in the following table.

Key Recommendation

Current Position

The relative efficiency of law centres and the scope for improving efficiency through increasing throughput of cases within the existing level of resources;

The Board has updated efficiency indicators used in the review (the total direct cost of cases cleared and the solicitor days per case cleared for 2011 which demonstrates a continued improvement in the Legal Aid Board’s productivity. These indicators now form an important element of the Board’s procedures for managing risk and performance across the law centre network.

The cost of providing services through private practitioners compared to the current model which involves mainly direct service provision through law centres

The Board continues to operate a mixed model of service delivery and uses private practitioners where resources allow. However, due to resource constraints, private practitioners are now mainly used for District Court cases only which attract a significantly lower fee than cases before the higher courts. The main focus of effort in the law centre network is to continue to improve work practices and procedures to increase the throughput of cases within existing resources.

The scope for co-location of services with other agencies (Family Mediation Services (FMS) now within the Board and the Courts Service), to encourage ADR (alternative dispute resolution) along the lines of the Integrated Mediation Initiative in Dolphin House.

This initiative has been extended following a review of its operation that clearly demonstrated efficiency savings (in terms of costs avoided). A similar integrated approach has recently been introduced in Cork and Naas in cooperation with the Courts Service;

The issue of how the current operation of the Courts (listing of cases, etc) imposes inefficiencies and costs on the Board (and indeed other Court users) – suggestion is that both the Department and the Board approach the Courts Service jointly about this matter (Key issue is the independence and wide discretion of judiciary in this regard).

There is a review group in place in the Department currently examining how the efficiency of the Courts might be improved on which the Board is represented;

Seeking legislative change to enable the Board to save approx €250k on practising certificates for solicitors (seek to have just one certificate for the Board in line with Chief State Solicitors Office practice rather than individual practising certificates for all solicitors employed in the Board). This is also consistent with “An Bord Snip Nua” recommendations to reduce non-pay overheads in the Board.

Briefing material on the suggested legislative amendment required has been supplied by the Board to the Department and it is now being considered in the context of the draft legislation covering the future regulation of the legal profession.

Reviewing locations of law centres and identification of possibilities for mergers/consolidation (the results of the analysis undertaken illustrates that costs and throughput of cases in the smaller law centres compare favourably to the larger centres – so the case for possible merger of smaller law centres is not generally supported by the analysis).

The Board has reviewed the structures for service delivery in Cork, Galway and Dublin and has consolidated its previously separate Refugee Legal Services operations in those 3 locations into the law centre network. Further work on consolidation of services in the Dublin area is also underway to improve efficiency and effectiveness in that location;

Reviewing HQ costs on an ongoing basis to seek efficiencies (€500 cost per case figure is used, but this reduces if productivity in law centres rises).

The impact of the moratorium on recruitment has resulted in reduced numbers of staff in HQ while taking over responsibility for the corporate support functions of the FMS has increased the workload in support areas as only front-line FMS staff were transferred to the Board. A further review of support service structures is currently underway to identify how best to deploy resources in these areas of the Board to:

- better support front line service delivery; and

- meet corporate governance obligations in the most cost effective and efficient manner possible (this includes measures for the more active management of the Board’s property portfolio and procurement of supplies and services).

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