Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief because I am merely replying to a question from a Senator who is not here. Senator McDowell spoke about the purpose of section 23, which is merely a standard technical provision to provide for funding for the overall purposes of the Bill. It was inserted into the Bill by way of an amendment which I brought forward on Report Stage in the Dáil and which was agreed. There is nothing unusual about it; it is a standard provision. It mirrors that in similar legislation, in particular section 24 of the Judicial Council Bill 2017, section 32 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, section 26 of the Property Services (Regulation) Act 2011, and section 19 of the Private Security Services Act of 2004. These mirror section 23, which is under consideration.

There were comparisons made and questions asked on the matter of the funding of the costs in respect of the current Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, JAAB. Senators will be aware that these costs are funded from Vote 22 - Courts Service, which is used to manage the courts and to support the Judiciary in a practical way. This is distinct from Vote 24 - Justice and Equality. I do not believe we are comparing like with like when we look to the experience of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board as a comparator in terms of costings for the soon to be established commission. I say this because the commission, as we know and as we have been debating, will have a much broader remit than that enjoyed by the advisory board. It will have both a selection aspect and a recommendation remit, as well as a remit to develop selection procedures.

I set out the details of expenditure involved in the administration of the JAAB for the period from 2014 to 2017 in the Dáil. That was based on information provided to me by the Courts Service. I would be happy to make that letter available to Senators. It sets out the staffing costs of the advisory board, estimated to be in the region of €50,000 per year. An executive officer employed on a less than full-time basis and supervised by an assistant principal officer is included in the cost of the clerk or secretarial services to the board. This may vary from year to year depending on the number of vacancies which, of course, determines the number of meetings. The explanatory memorandum to this Bill as initiated, to which I would draw the attention of Senators, states that the envisaged annual cost of the operation of this legislation will be in the order of €1 million for each full year of operation. This was, of course, an estimate. It was a rounded figure based on estimated costs for a full year of operation insofar as such an estimate could be made. However, the real figure, as I have said on the record of both this House and the Lower House, in any one year will probably be in or about half of that - approximately €500,000. The 2018 Estimates for the justice and equality Vote now provide for a new dedicated subhead for the judicial appointments commission - subhead A12. It has a token allocation for this year and, having regard to the progress we are making on this legislation, that would be accurate.