Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 194: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will detail his response to the report of the Special Group on Public Sector Numbers and Expenditure Programmes as it relates to his Department; in particular if he will outline his response to the McCarthy group's conclusions that there is room for a structural reduction of at least 540 staff across his Department and its agencies; if he envisages such a structural reduction during 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47469/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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As I outlined last week in the Dail in response to the Deputy's Parliamentary Question No. 2 of 10 December decisions in respect of many of the recommendations in relation to structural reform will be a matter for decision by Government in due course. Any expenditure reductions arising, including staff savings, will be included in the budget for the sector in future years.

Prior to the report of the McCarthy Group and in recognition of the need to restrict the growth of State bodies and agencies, the Department has devised an Executive Office Model which has provided a streamlined and cost efficient structure for setting up new offices within the Department where it has been necessary to provide new services and programmes. Offices established under this model are structured within the existing framework of the Department, thus avoiding the substantial levels of set up and running costs that would be incurred under traditional systems and structures. In fact, these offices have to use the Departments existing Financial Shared Services, Corporate Services, Human Resource and Information Technology Services, thus freeing up the offices to concentrate on their core functions in a more cost effective way. Executive Offices established in this manner include Cosc, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, the Office for Internet Safety, and the Victims of Crime Office.

Rationalisation of other offices has also been undertaken by my Department over the course of the last year. The Irish Film Classification Office has taken over administrative responsibility for the Censorship of Publications Board; the functions of the National Consultative Committee on Racism and Interculturalism have been absorbed into the Office of the Minister for Integration. The National Crime Council has been disbanded pending alternative mechanisms being put in place following a review of the arrangements for the development of policy and analysis in respect of crime issues.

The deployment of staffing resources is continually kept under review to ensure that maximum efficiency is derived from the resources available across the Justice Sector. During 2009, the moratorium on recruitment and schemes introduced by the Government have contributed to an overall reduction of over 200 staff between my Department, the Property Registration Authority and the Courts Service, which were the specific focus of staffing reductions in the McCarthy Report.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 195: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will detail his response to the report of the Special Group on Public Sector Numbers and Expenditure Programmes as it relates to the justice group of Votes (Table 13.4); in particular his response to A.2 - slowdown replacement of Garda fleet; A.5 - shelve new urban CCTV placements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47470/09]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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As outlined in my reply to the Deputy's Question No. 2 of the 10th December 2009, the recommendations contained in the Special Group Report (McCarthy) have been taken into account in the budget negotiations for 2010 for the Justice Sector. In common with all Departments, there will be reductions in payroll related provisions in 2010 to take account of the reductions in payroll rates, final figures for which will be published in the REV early next year. In addition, budgets have been reduced and reprioritised across a range of programme subheads to deliver the level of savings required by Government, a number of which are in line with the recommendations of the Special Group Report.

Decisions in respect of the Report's many other recommendations, and, indeed, proposals from other sources and interested parties are a matter for consideration by Government in due course. I have stated previously that I would find alternative savings rather than implement the Report's recommendation on closing rural Garda stations. That remains the position.