Monday October 12, 2015
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319 Standing Finance Committee Monday, October 12, 2015 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Monday, October 12, 2015 The House met at 10.00 a.m. PRAYERS [MADAM SPEAKER in the Chair] STANDING FINANCE COMMITTEE Madam Speaker: Hon. Members, the order for the consideration of the Heads of Expenditure in the Standing Finance Committee was submitted by the Leader of the Opposition on Friday, October 09, 2015 in accordance with Standing Order 84(2). This should by now have been circulated to all hon. Members via email. As provided for in Standing Order 83(1), five days are allotted for Standing Finance Committee to examine the estimates of expenditure together with the Appropriation Bill. The proceedings of the committee will formally commence on Thursday, October 15, 2015. However, time permitting, I suggest that the Motion to resolve into Standing Finance Committee be moved on Wednesday, October 14, 2015 only to permit Standing Finance Committee to finalize the agenda and hold preliminary discussions on the procedures to be followed. I do hope that Members will find this arrangement to be in order. APPROPRIATION (FINANCIAL YEAR 2016) BILL, 2015 [Fourth Day] Order read for resuming adjourned debate on question [October 09, 2015]: That the Bill be now read a second time. Question again proposed. Madam Speaker: I now call on the Member for San Fernando West. The Attorney General (Hon. Faris Al-Rawi): [Desk thumping] Much obliged. Madam Speaker, it is a sincere privilege and an honour to be an elected Member of the House of Representatives of Trinidad and Tobago. I am extremely grateful to God the Almighty for having taken us through the journey that brought us here. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the people of San Fernando West who so resoundingly broke every record in San Fernando West to place me here as their representative for all. [Desk thumping] 320 Appropriation Bill, 2015 Monday, October 12, 2015 [HON. F. AL-RAWI] Madam Speaker, I wish to express my profound gratitude to the hon. Dr. Keith Rowley, the Member for Diego Martin West the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, for allowing me to perform the functions of the Attorney General of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Certainly it is not lost upon me, Madam Speaker, that this is the first time in quite some time that an Attorney General has been appointed from the House of Representatives, and therefore, one has a very careful balance to observe in the conduct of discharging the duties for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago at ministerial level, at Cabinet level, and certainly constituency level, bearing in mind that we must all pay homage to God the Almighty and give respect to our families as well. Madam President—Madam Speaker—it would take me a little while to transition from my five years in the Senate. The Bill before us is an Appropriation Bill. It is set by the formula in Parliament; we are guided by the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Appropriation Bills are meant to be an account of the moneys spent in Trinidad and Tobago from the financial year prior and then a layout of moneys for the financial year ahead. In this exercise we are intended to speak, through you, to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, and in speaking to them there is an inherent requirement that we give an explanation for that which we have managed and that which we intend to do. Indeed, coming into the saddle of Government as we did on September 07 we have inherited a portfolio. And may I remind Trinidad and Tobago that we in the Government now stand to give an explanation to Trinidad and Tobago of the Ministries which we now as a Government are obliged to give. I know that this has caused some degree of elevation of temperature in the Chamber. No doubt there is a heartfelt desire from the Members opposite to try and justify the stewardship, but we in the Government wish to reside in a very simple parameter and that is to try to give an explanation of value for money. This after all is what the taxpayers who put us here, who fund us, expect from us. So, Madam Speaker, the Appropriation Bill says that of the 22 new Ministries that occupy Trinidad and Tobago moving down from 33 Ministries, that I am in charge and conduct of Head 23 described as the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs. This Ministry, as now presently constructed, is a combination of what was called the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Ministry of the Attorney General, and there has been some incorporation of the Ministry of Justice. In fact, the allocation prescribed for this purpose is $442,735,550. 321 Appropriation Bill, 2015 Monday, October 12, 2015 That is quite properly, as my friends opposite may notice, a combination of two large Ministries, the Ministry of Legal Affairs and the Ministry of the Attorney General. But for the benefit of the people of Trinidad and Tobago I think it incumbent to reflect upon the roles and functions ascribed to the Attorney General. It is true that the Constitution does prescribe the basic parameters for the role of the Attorney General being, of course, set out in section 76(2); and that is, that the Attorney General shall be responsible for the administration of legal affairs in Trinidad and Tobago and legal proceedings for and against the State. That is a very large, all-encompassing structure. The areas of responsibility, as I see it, as is quite my reflection, involve three substantial areas: the administrative side of the Ministry, the legislative side of the Ministry and then the substantive side of the Ministry. In the administrative arm, Madam Speaker, I was very interested to zone in upon the figures of the people, the human factor that we are responsible for in this Ministry. And the human factor in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs now comprises 1,867 persons. Of that 1,867 persons, 948 are at the Ministry of the Attorney General, five coming from the Ministry of Justice, and 669 at the Ministry of Legal Affairs. And I wish to flag now a point which I will come to a little bit later, the fact that there is a serious disparity existing in the Ministry between permanent positions and contract positions, and there is also a desperate need, Madam Speaker, to deal with, of the contract positions, the number of vacancies that are open. There are, after all, in the Ministry of the Attorney General of the 370 contract positions, 202 vacancies; and of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, of the contract positions 390, there are 198 vacancies. This, Madam Speaker, has to do with the manner in which our system is operating to fill vacancies, something which we intend to do in a very serious measure as a Government. Madam Speaker, by way of explaining the tenure passed, it was interesting to note that in the five-year period prior to this Government’s tenure, in the period 2010 to the last financial year ending, that the Ministry of the Attorney General, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Legal Affairs—and in particular I will add because there has been an absorption of part of that portfolio, the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Child Development—that these Ministries collectively received some $5,472,388,581. That is a lot of money. And what is left for us in Trinidad and Tobago right now is to appreciate how that money was spent in terms of a value-for-money production on the administrative side, on the legislative side and on the substantive side. 322 Appropriation Bill, 2015 Monday, October 12, 2015 [HON. F. AL-RAWI] On the legislative side, Madam Speaker, it is well known that the Attorney General pilots a vast majority of legislation, but is responsible for the supervision of legislation which comes to the Cabinet and the Legislative Review Committee. In dealing with that therefore, it is incumbent to have as a Government an oversight and responsibility for the legislation which comes to you; much the word legacy used opposite is true to that description. On the substantive side, Madam Speaker, the office of the Attorney General is responsible for the construction, previously, of court facilities for the Judiciary, the appointments to quasi-judicial bodies, law reform, the legislative agenda, the Office of the Chief State Solicitor, the Office of Solicitor General, the Office of Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property, Registrar General, the criminal justice system, quicker-justice initiative programmes and about 17 statutory bodies. On the substantive side it is critical insofar as we have a coordinated role with the office of the DPP to factor the management of the criminal justice system, and to make sure that we in Trinidad and Tobago, who are desperate to make sure that we live in a safe environment, that our people can feel that our Government is genuinely focused upon the deliverables that the people want. After all, Madam Speaker, coming out of an election surely there is agreement on both sides of the House that corruption is a scourge which must be eliminated from this country, [Desk thumping] that crime and the scourge of crime must be eradicated from Trinidad and Tobago. That fairness and equality must be delivered to Trinidad and Tobago, and that when a government spends money that the government must do so to bring an outcome which is beneficial to the people in the most efficient fashion.