Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I welcome the more open disposition of the current Director of Public Prosecutions and the number of changes he has introduced, such as availability of books of information, a recent "Prime Time" interview, which is not the first interview he has given, and so on. The DPP pointed out that his office is often called upon in respect of matters of legal policy. He stated:

With the increasing complexity of the criminal justice system, my professional staff are now regularly being called upon to address matters of legal policy. To date, this has been managed from within existing resources. However, I am of the opinion that it is now time to address these issues in a more structured and focused way.

What is the Taoiseach's understanding of the DPP's statement? To what issues of legal policy is he referring? Is it the Government or the Attorney General that requires him to address those issues? Is it intended to set up a legal policy unit in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions? Has a request been made to the Taoiseach in this regard? Has a request been made for more resources? Has the Government a view on the DPP's statement when he thought aloud that there is a need to establish what he called a dedicated legal policy unit?

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