Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission came into existence on 1 January 2004 under the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003. This founding commission legislation then led, in summary, to two consequences; one, that the commission became the sanctioning authority for expenditure and for deciding on staff numbers up to the grade of principal officer and the provision of services and related matters to the Oireachtas; and, two, that the system for the allocation of budgets to the Oireachtas changed from the annual Civil Service Estimates and Vote procedure to a different process involving a three-year budget from the central fund.

The new budget is set every three years following negotiations between my Department and the commission. The budget is approved at political level by the commission and the amending legislation is then passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. Under the terms of the inaugural commission Act, a three-year budget covering the period 2004 to 2006 was provided for the commission. Further Acts were enacted in 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015 and in 2018. A new Oireachtas commission Act is now required as a matter of priority as the financing provided under the 2018 Act expires as of 31 December coming.

As all of the Members will be aware, the commission oversees the provision of services to the Houses and their Members by the Houses of the Oireachtas Service, the parliamentary administration, in accordance with the commission Acts. The primary functions of the commission are to provide for the running of the Houses of the Oireachtas, to act as governing body of the service, to consider and determine policy on this service and to oversee the implementation of that policy by the Secretary General.

The commission is not responsible for the management and day-to-day operations of the Houses. The Secretary General has overall responsibility for these functions in accordance with the commission Acts. It is important to note that the commission does not set the level of remuneration payable to Deputies and Senators. Responsibility for salaries, pensions and allowances for Members is conferred on me in my role as the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

The commission is accountable to the Parliament and presents annual reports of its work to both Houses, together with estimates and accounts of its expenditure.

I would like to acknowledge at this point the hugely valuable role played by secretarial, parliamentary and administrative assistants, in supporting Members and delivering a high -quality service to the Oireachtas. As a Member of this House for more than 14 years, I am acutely conscious of the extraordinary work that all of our staff do, day in and day out.

The scheme for secretarial assistance is the mechanism under which secretarial assistants and others are engaged. Under the scheme, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission has the power to regulate the provision of secretarial facilities to Members and to qualifying parties. Secretarial assistants, administrative assistants, parliamentary assistants, administrators and chefs de cabinet are employed by Members and by qualifying parties but are paid by the commission. The commission also regulates the number of staff employed under the scheme and has oversight of the operation of the scheme. Under the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003, the commission must obtain the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform of the day before reaching an agreement with any person on rates of pay, conditions of employment or superannuation rights.

In practice, this means that the commission advises on matters relating to resourcing, grading and terms and conditions of employment, and submits proposals to myself for consideration and agreement. In that regard, I am aware that there is a process under way at the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, dealing with various issues, including alignment with the current public service pay agreement: Building Momentum - A New Public Service Agreement 2021-2022, between the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission and SIPTU. I look forward to a successful resolution of the matter and an early presentation of proposals for my agreement.

The Houses of the Oireachtas Service is the public service body that administers the Houses of the Oireachtas on behalf of the commission as the governing authority. The functions of the service are set out in legislation and can be broadly summarised as the provision of professional advice and support services to the commission, the Houses and their committees, and Members of the Houses.

To serve the people of our country, we need a modern, fit-for-purpose, well-resourced parliamentary system and I believe the allocation over the next three years provided

for in this legislation supports that aim. The sole purpose of this Bill is to make available the funding for the commission over the coming three years. The Bill proposes to make available to the commission a sum not exceeding €462.505 million to carry out its functions for the three-year period from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2024. This sum has been agreed between the commission and my own Department and takes into account foreseen expenditure over the three-year period. The figure of €462.505 million over three years comprises €160.7 million in 2022, €150.8 million in 2023 and €151 million in 2024.

This represents a €40.2 million, or 9.5%, increase on the allocation for 2019 to 2021. Within the overall envelope of €462.5 million, it should be noted that pay and pensions comprise €323.4 million, or 70%, of the overall budget allocation. Members' allowances total €37.9 million, or 8%, of the overall budget allocation, while non-pay expenditure amounts to €101.3 million, or 22%.

Ireland has a very proud parliamentary tradition and a large portion of the extra funding that has been provided is for an ongoing programme of parliamentary reform, which I fully support. Chief among these reforms is an enhanced role for the Parliamentary Budget Office, PBO. Building on initiatives in other countries, such as the Congressional Budget Office in the United States, the PBO was put in place to provide independent and impartial budgetary and economic analysis for all parliamentarians in the Oireachtas. Further Oireachtas reforms include the development of the Private Members' Bills policy unit with the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA. Based on my own experience, I acknowledge the crucial role that office plays in supporting the work of Members of the Oireachtas. Without such an office, it is hard to see how the Oireachtas would function on a day-to-day basis. OPLA's main objective is to provide independent legal advice to members of the Oireachtas and Oireachtas committees. It also assists Members with research, development of policy proposals, drafting of Bills and amendments and pre-Committee Stage scrutiny. Extra funding is also being provided to cater for the larger number of Oireachtas committees and the associated staffing requirements that follow. Committees provide a critical avenue for scrutiny of Government and Government policy and it is altogether right and proper that they should be funded to fulfil this important role. While these measures will result in increased staffing and administration costs, I believe they represent a very welcome commitment to the further enhancement of our parliamentary democracy.

Other elements in the new funding envelope include the provision for financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, pay restoration measures. I am pleased that the allocation for the period 2022 to 2024 will include provision for a significant investment in ICT infrastructure as part of the ongoing Oireachtas digital transformation programme. In total, €22.8 million has been set aside for this purpose over the next three years. We have all experienced at first hand the importance of modern methods of communications in the 21 months or so since the pandemic arrived on our shores. It is to the credit of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission that the ongoing work of Deputies and Senators was supported during the periods in which our physical presence was severely curtailed. The digital transformation programme, through the funding provided for in this legislation, will provide technology in the Chambers that will implement long-term solutions to facilitate collaboration and productive workflows, digitise existing processes and ways of working and provide modern tools to support Members and staff when carrying our parliamentary activities, implement advanced technology to enhance the research and analysis capabilities within the Oireachtas and improve transparency between the Oireachtas and the general public.

It should be noted that a once-off general election allocation of €10.5 million has also been provided for in the overall envelope, although we are not, of course, expecting a general election within the three-year period for which this budget is being provided.

While funding is the sole purpose of the Bill, a number of amendments of a technical nature are also required. I will refer briefly to the details of these amendments. Section 1 amends section 5 of the principal Act to provide funding for expenditure incurred by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission during the period of three years from 1 January 2022. The amount of funding for that period is capped, as I said, at €462.505 million. Section 2 is a standard form provision setting out the Short Title, collective citation and commencement date for the Bill. I look forward to the debate and I commend the Bill to the House.

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