Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

While I hear what the Minister is saying, I want to make it very clear that at the very heart of the Bill is a very important person, namely, the director of the decision support service. The functions under the Bill have been greatly expanded, which I welcome. There are very positive and important aspects of the legislation which everybody wants to pass and I very much welcome it. However, many of the issues which need to be addressed are multidisciplinary and administrative and do not require or are not appropriate for a court hearing.

The director has been given powers to investigate complaints formally, by calling witnesses, or informally. The director will have a supervisory function including the establishment and maintenance of a number of registers and will have responsibilities to formulate codes of practice, identify and make recommendations for changes of practices and so on. The view of the Law Society is that given the wider context in which the director must operate, it should not constitute an element of the administration of justice. The legislation should provide that the decision support service would be an agency directly within the Department of Justice and Equality and not be an agency within an existing agency. This is critical and would mean the service would not be under the thumb of the Courts Service but would be independent in its function, which is broader than the Courts Service, separate from it and under the jurisdiction of the Minister and Department.

The Bill provides that the director be appointed by the Courts Service, that the staff should be members of the staff of the Courts Service and that the Courts Service shall be the appropriate authority regarding members of staff. This will give rise to perceptions on the part of vulnerable people who in many cases, with their families, require information, assistance and direction in coping with capacity issues and who do not see themselves as looking to a legalistic Courts Service for such assistance. It does not take account of the wider context of the decision support services operation and is a mismatch between the statutory function of two services. There is no synergy between the legal function of the director and that of the Courts Service. This is very important.

The provision in the legislation is not the best place for this power to reside. It should be independent of the Courts Service. The Minister said it would not be appropriate for the Minister to appoint the director, and I agree it should not be a political decision. Like the Garda assistant Commissioner posts, which were filled by open competition yesterday morning, the job should be advertised under the proper independent procedures and appointed by the accountable Minister. It would give greater separation of powers from the functions of the Courts Service which is entirely different in every respect from the function of this office.

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