Vol. 646 Tuesday, No. 4 12 February 2008 DI´OSPO´ IREACHTAI´ PARLAIMINTE PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES DA´ IL E´ IREANN TUAIRISC OIFIGIU´ IL—Neamhcheartaithe (OFFICIAL REPORT—Unrevised) Tuesday, 12 February 2008. Ceisteanna—Questions Taoiseach ………………………………… 803 Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Priority Questions …………………………… 813 Other Questions …………………………… 822 Adjournment Debate Matters …………………………… 829 Leaders’ Questions ……………………………… 829 Requests to move Adjournment of Da´il under Standing Order 32 ……………… 835 Order of Business ……………………………… 836 Finance Act 2004 Order: Referral to Select Committee ………………… 844 Overseas Missions Report: Referral to Select Committee ………………… 844 Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2008: Order for Second Stage …………………………… 845 Second Stage ……………………………… 845 Private Members’ Business Special Educational Needs: Motion ……………………… 867 Adjournment Debate Osteoporosis Services …………………………… 892 Grant Payments ……………………………… 894 Environmental Policy …………………………… 899 Questions: Written Answers …………………………… 903 DA´ IL E´ IREANN ———— De´ Ma´irt, 12 Feabhra 2008. Tuesday, 12 February 2008. ———— Chuaigh an Ceann Comhairle i gceannas ar 2.30 p.m. ———— Paidir. Prayer. ———— Ceisteanna — Questions. ———— Departmental Staff. ———— 1. Deputy Eamon Gilmore asked the Taoiseach the number of staff, broken down by grade, currently employed in the Attorney General’s office engaged in the drafting of legislation; the number of vacancies in any such grade or position; if he is satisfied that there are sufficient staff and resources available to the Office of the Attorney General to facilitate the prompt and efficient drafting of legislation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30919/07] 2. Deputy Caoimhghı´nO´ Caola´in asked the Taoiseach the number of staff employed in the Office of the Attorney General in the drafting of legislation; the comparable number for 2002; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35282/07] The Taoiseach: I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2 together. The position in relation to permanent staffing in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government is set out in a table which I propose to circulate in the Official Report. There are currently 19 permanent staff and four consultant drafters serving in the office. In December 2002, 18 permanent staff and four consultant drafters were employed. Three assistant Parliamentary Counsels, grade II, were promoted following an internal competition to assistant Parliamentary Counsel, grade I, on 14 November 2007. As a consequence of this and of the Department of Finance sanction of 26 July 2007, five vacancies at assistant Parliamentary Counsel, grade II, level arise. A competition organised on behalf of the office by the Public Appointments Service in respect of those vacancies was held in December 2007. Three of the successful candidates will join the office on 25 February, 3 March and 28 April, respectively. The office intends organising a further competition before the summer to fill the remaining two vacancies. 803 Ceisteanna — 12 February 2008. Questions [The Taoiseach.] Permanent Staffing in Office of Parliamentary Counsel to the Government — February 2008 Grade Number Serving Number of Vacancies Chief Parliamentary Counsel 1 — First Parliamentary Counsel 1 — Parliamentary Counsel 4 — Assistant Parliamentary Counsel (Grade I) 7 — Assistant Parliamentary Counsel (Grade II) 6 5 Total 19 5 Deputy Eamon Gilmore: It is clear from the Taoiseach’s reply that the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, formerly the Office of the Parliamentary Draftsman of the Office of the Attorney General, is under-staffed. Is this under-staffing the cause or is it a contributory factor in the delay in legislation being published? I refer to a number of pieces of legislation which have been in the pipeline for some time, including the Ombudsman (amendment) Bill, originally promised in 2003, the broadcast- ing Bill, the employment agency regulation Bill, which now appears to be dropped from the immediate publication list, the employment law compliance Bill, the Dublin transport authority Bill and others. Is the delay due to a shortage of staff? Are contract staff employed in the drafting of legislation and, if so, are they from outside the State? The Taoiseach: A number of points are raised; if there were a far bigger staff maybe it would ease the burden on the office. It is and always has been a very busy office. As Deputy Gilmore said, its title has changed from the Office of the Parliamentary Draftsman to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. In three of the past four years it received increased posts and an increase in staff but overall numbers have not changed a lot — in my reply I mentioned regrading. The office’s legislation output keeps up with a very high average. If one looks at the capa- bility of the office to produce legislation over a longer period rather than recent months one sees much of the legislation was enacted prior to the election, which cleared up a lot of the Government’s legislation programme. Some 109 Bills were enacted in the 29th Da´il and plenty of Bills are before the House. Recently, the office finished very substantial Bills. The Finance Bill, the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill, the Motor Vehicle (Duties and Licences) Bill, the Student Support Bill have all been published and the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill also took a great deal of work, not to mind all the statutory instruments the office works on. It is an enormously busy office. Last year again it turned out a higher number of Bills than in the previous period and a whole range of Bills are coming through. Often it is a question of Departments organising the data and the work rather than the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel which I find to be efficient and quick in dealing with the issues once they are clear in Departments. Bills such as the Finance Bill, the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill and the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill are major Bills and priority has to be given to them. Obviously other Bills will fall back, that is inevitable. With regard to contract workers, at present there are a small number of staff under contract, I think it is four. Four people left for career breaks or secondments and two of them have returned. It is intended to phase out contract staff over a period of years because sufficient permanent trained parliamentary counsel are in place. The figure will remain at four — this year is a difficult year because one of the contract staff is not available for the year. Two more will finish up their time during the course of this year. The office is trying to engage more from 804 Ceisteanna — 12 February 2008. Questions common law jurisdictions. I am told there has been a positive response to a trawl of these jurisdictions and there are two potential drafters. They are working with four at present, with two of those due to go. The difficulty, as Members know, is the length of time it takes to bring in and train experi- enced drafters. Most of these contract drafters brought in are people who have retired in common law jurisdictions who come here for a few years. They are and have been hugely important to the system. Obviously, as they are retired people, they stay a number of years and will move on. They are essential to building up the base. The office hopes to be able to get out of this situation. I have seen this develop over a number of years; the number is as low as it has been any time in the past 20 years. Deputy Eamon Gilmore: Are particular difficulties being encountered in recruiting parliamentary draftspersons? In his reply the Taoiseach said five vacancies were advertised last July, three of which are about to be taken up in the coming weeks, which is welcome. He also said it is intended to re-advertise for two more positions. While I do not want to stray into us commenting on the qualifications and suitability of applicants, will the Taoiseach indicate why this might be the case? The Government legislation committee is the body to drive the drafting and preparation of legislation. Who are the members of that committee and how does it function? We are dealing with the consequences in that the flow of legislation from the Government has slowed down significantly since the general election. Either Ministers are not driving the preparation of legislation or there is a problem possibly in the Attorney General’s office. The Taoiseach: The problem is with suitable staff. In the last Public Appointments Com- mission interviews for assistant Parliamentary Counsel in December, there were five vacancies. Three candidates will take up office from this. Only three qualified in the previous competition, of which two took up office in mid to late 2006. I am informed this is not unusual. In the last competition across the water, 359 applications were made for the Parliamentary Counsel recruitment scheme but only seven applicants were successful and up to the required standard. We did well to get three suitable candidates in the last round. Each time the problem is getting people of sufficient competence and standing to take it forward. The committee, chaired by the Government Chief Whip, is responsible for the legislative programme. Senior officials from the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and the Office of the Attorney General are on the committee and consult all relevant Departments. Before the general election a large number of Bills were completed and people worked to the end position. Obviously, the programme for Government took up much time in the autumn before much of the legislation was enacted. There are a large number of Bills coming through. In fairness to the Parliamentary Counsel staff, they had to deal with the immigration Bill, which is a very large Bill, the Finance Bill, the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill.