Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 May 2014
216. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of State agencies and public bodies under her aegis that have been merged or abolished in each year since 2011; the annual savings associated with each body; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22120/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that the details (since 2011) of the merger or abolition of agencies under the remit of my Department are outlined as follows:-
Merger of the Valuation Office, the Property Registration Authority and Ordnance Survey Ireland.
The merger of the Property Registration Authority, Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland has been mandated by the Government under the Agency Rationalisation Programme. A Project Board, comprising senior representatives of the three Departments concerned along with the Chief Executive Officers of the three Agencies, is overseeing the merger. The CEO Designate of the merged body, who acts as Project Manager for the merger, was appointed from 1 July 2013. It is anticipated that Ministerial responsibility for the Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland will be transferred to the Minister for Justice and Equality in due course. It is anticipated that the General Scheme of a Bill will be brought to Government for approval to draft by mid-year.
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.
On 8 September 2011, the Government decided to merge the Human Rights Commission and the Equality Authority to establish the new and enhanced Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC) to promote human rights and equality issues in a more efficient, effective and coherent way.
There are no savings anticipated given that since 2008, the Equality Authority and the Human Rights Commission had experienced budget cuts of 43% and 32% respectively. Staffing numbers also decreased significantly and continued to reduce until this year. In 2008 the combined staffing compliment was 74 staff. In 2012 at the time of the Working Group Report on the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the combined complement had been reduced to 46.
The 2014 allocation to the IHREC is €6.299m, a figure which represents an increase of €2m approximately on the 2013 allocation. A staff allocation of 47 was agreed with a provision for a review of this figure in 12 to 18 months time in light of experience once the additional staff have been recruited and are in place.
The Prisons Authority Interim Board.
The Prisons Authority Interim Board was abolished on 26 July 2011. The amount saved was in excess of €100,000 per annum.
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 (FMS) in November 2011 which had previously been under the auspices of the Family Support Agency. 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. The transfer of the FMS to the Legal Aid Board has also given rise to savings resulting from efficiencies in respect of operating costs. These savings have allowed the Board to allocate additional funding to mediation services to the tune of over €430,000 in 2013 compared to 2011. Overall, this represents a saving of approximately 17% based on the expenditure of the FMS in 2011 before it transferred to the Board.
Garda Síochána Complaints Board.
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 Complaints 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 current status of the Board is that the final case against it was struck out by the Supreme Court on 29 November 2013. 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 repeal of the Garda Síochána (Complaints) Act 1986 will automatically dissolve the Garda Síochána Complaints Board and the separate Appeal Board.
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.
The Department is making arrangements to repeal the Garda Síochána (Complaints) Act 1986 (as amended) which will automatically result in the winding up of the Garda Síochána Complaints Boards. The necessary Order to repeal the Act has been drafted and will be submitted in the coming weeks to the Minister for signing.
