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

I am pleased to be here this afternoon and to have the opportunity to present the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (Amendment) Bill 2021 to the House, which passed all Stages in the Dáil last week.

The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission came Into existence on 1 January 2004 under the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003. The founding commission legislation in 2003 led, in summary, to two consequences: (1) 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 (2) 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 drawn from the Central Fund. The new budget is set every three years following negotiations with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The budget is approved at political level by the commission and the amending legislation then is passed by both Houses.

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, 2015 and 2018. A new Oireachtas commission Act is now required as a matter of priority, as the financing provided under the 2018 Act expires on 31 December next.

As Senators will be aware, the Oireachtas 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 in respect of the 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. Neither does the Commission set the level of remuneration payable to Members of the Houses. Salaries, pensions and allowances are determined by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform of the day.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 Dáil Éireann for more than 14 years, I am acutely conscious of the extraordinary work all our staff do day in, day out. I am also conscious the nature of the role of the secretarial assistant today is far more complex and much busier than it once was. The nature of the role has changed and developed over the years. Secretarial assistants, as we all know, face an ever increasing range of complex issues and engage with and assist people, often at very difficult times in their lives. I acknowledge the current demands on secretarial assistants are different and more challenging than those that were in place when the 2003 Act was passed.

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 qualifying parties. Secretarial assistants, administrative assistants, parliamentary assistants, administrators and chefs de cabinetare 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 2003 Act, 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 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 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, between the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission and SIPTU. It is important to emphasise there is a process under way. My understanding is that both the commission and SIPTU have written to the WRC and are proposing a re-engagement at the WRC and that engagement will now take place in January 2022. I want a successful resolution of this matter and early presentation of proposals for my agreement. In that regard, I will work positively with my officials to ensure there is ongoing engagement with the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission in working towards a resolution to this issue as soon as we possibly can in the new year. I sent a pretty clear political signal on that front in the Dáil last week, as I did when I was here last week when Senator Craughwell tabled a Commencement matter on this issue.

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

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 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 and represents a €40.2 million or 9.5% increase on the allocation for the 2019-2021 period.

Within the overall envelope it should be noted that pay and pensions comprise €323.4 million or 70% of the overall allocation. Members' allowances total €37.9 million or 8% of the overall budget allocation and non-pay expenditure totals €101.3 million or 22% of the total allocation.

Ireland, as we all know, 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. Chief among these reforms is the 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 has been 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 within the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Adviser. Based on my experience, I acknowledge the crucial role the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Adviser plays in the running of the Oireachtas. Without such an office, it is hard to see how the Oireachtas would function on a day to day basis. Its main objective is to provide independent legal advice to members of the Oireachtas and of the committees. The office also assists Members in research, the development of policy proposals, the drafting of Bills and amendments, and in pre-Committee Stage scrutiny.

Extra funding is also being provided to cater for a larger number of Oireachtas committees and the associated staffing requirements that follow. Oireachtas committees provide a critical avenue for scrutiny of Government and Government policy and it is right and proper they should be funded to fulfil this important role. While these measures will result in increased staffing and administration costs, 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 the allocation for the period 2022-2024 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 during the past 21 months since the pandemic hit. 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. In particular, the digital transformation programme 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, as well as providing 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 in the overall envelope, although we are not expecting a general election within the timeframe of the budget set out here.