I propose to take Questions Nos. 124 and 125 together.
The total no. of staff assigned to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) on the 12th February 2019 was 42 staff in total (39.1 full time equivalent). The breakdown by grade is set out in Tabular form below.
Title
|
Director
|
Enforcement Portfolio Manager
|
Digital
Forensic
Specialist
|
Enforcement Lawyer
|
Solicitor
|
Accountant
Grade 1
|
No of staff
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
7
|
Full time equivalents.
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
7
|
Title
|
Principal
Officer
|
Assistant Principal Officer
|
Higher Executive Officer
|
Executive Officer
|
Clerical Officer
|
Total
|
No of staff
|
1
|
4
|
8
|
6
|
9
|
42
|
Full time equivalents.
|
1
|
4
|
6.8
|
5.5
|
7.8
|
39.1
|
The number of Gardaí assigned to the ODCE on 12th February 2019 was 7.
The ODCE currently has one vacancy (Corporate Compliance Manager). Since his appointment, the current Director has undertaken a significant restructuring of the ODCE to better reflect the organisation’s needs in the context of both its strategic shift towards deploying resources towards more serious indications of wrongdoing and the increasingly complex environment within which the ODCE operates.
That restructuring has included the seeking of sanction for the recruitment of a substantial number of additional professional staff, and following receipt of sanction, the recruitment of eight accounting professionals (one of whom was promoted to Enforcement Portfolio Manager), two Enforcement Portfolio Managers, two Enforcement Lawyers and a Digital Forensics Specialist, together with significant investment in a digital forensics laboratory, training and development. The recruitment and assimilation of a large number of new professional staff into a multi-disciplinary organisation that undertakes complex work in a fast-moving environment is a project that requires careful management. As such, the Director is of the view that it is preferable to allow that process to fully bed down before filling the aforementioned vacancy. The Director is further conscious of the fact that the transition of the ODCE to an independent Agency will give rise to additional expertise requirements and, as such, is of the view that it is prudent that those considerations should be factored into developing the role, and associated skill set, required of the appointee.