Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together.

I am pleased to say that implementation of the relevant recommendations of the Nally report on the re-organisation of the Chief State Solicitor's office is now completed.

The last recommendation to be acted upon, that responsibility for the local State solicitors should be transferred from the Office of the Attorney General to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, with legislative provision to enable the Director of Public Prosecutions to delegate to them, was implemented with effect from 15 May 2007. In January 2007, the Minister for Finance approved 28 new permanent posts and one contract post for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. This brought the total authorised staff complement of the director to 202. These additional staff were sanctioned following a detailed analysis of the staffing needs of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions undertaken jointly by officials of the director and the Minister for Finance. This analysis culminated in a report which concluded that there had been both an increase in the volume and complexity of the work undertaken by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and that new areas of work had also emerged which need to be addressed.

In addition to the new staff sanctioned in January 2007, the director is in communication with the Courts Service and the Departments of Finance and Justice, Equality and Law Reform with regard to further staff which will be required to implement a range of initiatives in the criminal justice sector. The number of additional staff required is not yet clear but is being kept under review. The director is also examining the number of extra staff which will be required when responsibility for sea fisheries prosecutions are transferred to him from the Attorney General.

Filling of all of the additional posts sanctioned in January 2007 will not be possible until additional accommodation which has been approved for the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions becomes available. The office currently has 14.5 staff vacancies. However, I understand that efforts are continuing to recruit additional staff notwithstanding the accommodation difficulties. In the meantime, a range of temporary initiatives are being used to overcome the accommodation problems.

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