John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 876: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when the value for money review of the maintenance of Garda premises was completed; the value of savings to the Exchequer generated by the implementation of the conclusions from this report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33758/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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An expenditure review of the maintenance of Garda premises is being carried out at present. The purpose of the review is to examine spending from the Garda Vote on maintenance of Garda premises, which is carried out by the Office of Public Works at the request of the Garda authorities. I expect the review to be completed early in 2008. Its findings are unlikely to be implemented on a stand-alone basis but will feed into a broader Garda accommodation strategy which is being developed at present by An Garda Síochána and the OPW.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 877: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when the value for money review of asylum and immigration schemes was completed; the value of savings to the Exchequer generated by the implementation of the conclusions from this report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33759/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The value for money (VFM) review of Asylum and Immigration commenced in late 2004 and was completed in early 2006. An external quality assessment of the report was completed in July 2006 and the report was published on my Department's website in November 2006.

The VFM review of asylum and immigration was carried out during a period of significant change, a key feature of which was falling numbers of asylum applications in the State and very significant increases for other immigration services. The review involved a combination of, inter alia, financial and business analysis, resource mapping and allocation modelling and performance management. The outcome of the review was a comprehensive series of recommendations clustered around nine key areas.

A unique feature of the review was that it was a dynamic constantly evolving process. As recommendations were agreed, the implementation cycle also began. This meant that by the end of the Review, all of the recommendations had been accepted and implemented or were at early stages of implementation. A key recommendation in the Report which has been implemented was the establishment in March 2005 of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) to provide a "one stop shop" for immigration, asylum, visa and citizenship services. The visa office of the Department of Foreign Affairs also transferred to INIS in January 2006.

While it is not possible to put a figure on the value of savings to the Exchequer generated from implementation of the Report's recommendations, I can say that greater overall value for money has been achieved in the delivery of services across all asylum and immigration areas in recent years, through improved use of resources and improved efficiencies in the processing of applications. For instance there are now much faster processing timescales for asylum determinations and the backlog which existed a number of years ago has been essentially eliminated. Visa processing times have also been significantly speeded up. Savings have also been achieved through various operational and enforcement strategies and other initiatives undertaken in the asylum and immigration areas in recent years.

Further improvements in service delivery and value for money will be achieved arising from the implementation of a suite of IT systems, including a new case management system for INIS. The implementation of the new Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill will also give rise to greater efficiency in how services are provided. In the area of protection, the Bill provides for the introduction of a single procedure for determining all asylum, subsidiary protection and humanitarian leave to remain issues. This will replace the current three stage process under which each of these matters is determined sequentially.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 878: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when the value for money review of the prison capital projects was completed; the value of savings to the Exchequer generated by the implementation of the conclusions from the report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33760/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service that a review of certain aspects of its capital expenditure programme was commissioned in June 2006 under the framework of the Expenditure Review Initiative of the Department of Finance. The report of the independent review group was published in August 2007. The review concluded that the response made by the Irish authorities, in terms of capital investment, has at a general level been strategic in terms of its aims, appropriate in terms of the projects undertaken, and reasonably effectively delivered within the budgetary, operational and policy context and constraints in which it has occurred.

The review group also made recommendations in relation to forward planning, capital programming and project appraisal and review. The Prison Service has accepted all of the recommendations and a Capital Programme Monitoring Committee has been established to oversee the recommendations set out in the report. These recommendations are largely of a procedural nature and it is not possible to quantify the potential savings to the Exchequer as they relate to future projects.

John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 879: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when the value for money review of the probation and welfare service, assistance to voluntary bodies will be completed; the anticipated value of savings to the Exchequer due to the implementation of this report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33762/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Report referred to by the Deputy is nearing completion and will, early in the new year, be forwarded to the Central Steering Committee on Programme Evaluation in the Department of Finance, for consideration. As the findings of the review are still awaited it would be premature to comment on the anticipated value of savings to the Exchequer due the implementation of this report. However, I can assure the Deputy that in line with Government policy I am committed to implementing all appropriate measures which will achieve better value for money and provide greater accountability on what is being achieved for public expenditure.