Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

In the Taoiseach's reply, he outlined that over the past two years there has been a staff reduction of 14 in the Attorney General's office. Looking at the scale of legislation promised for the remainder of the year, there is a case to be made that perhaps the capacity does not exist to process all of this legislation in this timeframe unless significant changes are made either in the Attorney General's office or in the way Bills are drafted such as the use of outsourcing, which, to be blunt about it, has always been frowned upon by the system, in terms of giving this capacity to others. I had experience of this with regard to one famous Bill. Given all that has happened on the economic side as well as the significant workload pressures on the office, what are the Taoiseach's observations on whether the legislative programme that has been published and promised is deliverable from the existing capacity in the Attorney General's office?

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