Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The criminal division of the Office of the Chief State Solicitor has been transferred to the Office of the DPP. That was done with statutory clarification that the professional staff are professional staff of the DPP within the meaning of the 1974 Act. The only outstanding issue concerns local State solicitors and efforts are being made on negotiations to bring them within the ambit of the DPP's office. I addressed that issue in a question to which I replied earlier. They are contracted to the State. They made an argument based on their caseloads, office staff and overall expenses and that has been the subject of negotiations for some time. The Department of Finance agreed to a new offer, which has been made and is being considered. The Chief State Solicitor and the DPP hope it will be accepted so that the remaining part can be concluded. All the other issues, including the organisational structure, modern library, information systems, planning and training, have been addressed.

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