Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 30 November 2022
51. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if the Corporate Enforcement Authority has considered or will consider using officers on secondment from other jurisdictions in order to assist with establishing best practice at the new agency. [59707/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Corporate Enforcement Authority (CEA) was established on July 7, 2022. The CEA’s mission is to promote and serve the public interest by ensuring high levels of compliance with company law through effective advocacy and proportionate, robust and dissuasive enforcement.
My Department has worked with the CEA to ensure it has the necessary human resources required, both civil service and members of An Garda Síochána, to undertake its statutory functions.
In preparation for the establishment of the agency the Department approved an additional 14 civil servants to be assigned to the CEA. In addition, the CEA’s full-time Garda complement will increase from 7 to 16 officers (comprising of 1 Detective Inspector, 3 Detective Sergeants and 12 Detective Gardaí). Recruitment of additional Gardaí is underway and on November 8, 2022, five new Detective Gardaí became CEA officers, having been successful at interview. This increased complement will enable the agency to take on a greater volume of criminal investigative work.
As an Agency, the CEA has more autonomy, particularly the ability to recruit required skills and expertise. The CEA’s strategy 2022-2025 sets out the importance of recruiting suitably qualified and experienced staff, sourced, to the maximum extent practicable, through open competition thereby providing the CEA with access to the widest pool of available talent. The strategy also commits the CEA to developing effective relationships with domestic, EU and international peers.
Staffing of, and secondment to, the CEA are operational matters for the agency. While I have no function in this regard, I have informed the CEA of the matters raised by the Deputy in her question.
