Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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195. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when his Department signed off on the expenditure of hiring persons (details supplied) to work as part of the Charleton liaison committee; the amount both persons have cost to date; if the positions were advertised; if the positions went through a public procurement process; if not, the reason therefore; if the human resources division of An Garda Síochána was consulted on the hiring of both persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47652/17]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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196. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the Policing Authority was consulted or its attention drawn to at the time of the hiring of persons (details supplied) to work as part of the Charleton liaison committee; if not, the reason therefore; if the attention of the Policing Authority was drawn to or if it was consulted on these appointments; his views on whether they should have been under the legislation in which they were established; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47653/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 195 and 196 together.

First of all let me say for the benefit of the Deputy that the Disclosures Tribunal was appointed following the passage of resolutions by this House and Seanad Éireann on 16 February 2017. Those resolutions require the Tribunal to report to the clerk of Dáil Éireann with its findings and recommendations. Therefore, I do not propose to say or do anything which could be interpreted as impinging on its independence.

As the Deputy will be aware, it is the Garda Commissioner who has statutory responsibility to carry on and manage and control generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána. Accordingly, the putting in place of internal structures to service the Tribunal is a matter for the Commissioner and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. I do not believe that it would be proper for me as Minister to prescribe the approach which is taken by An Garda Síochána towards the Tribunal.  Indeed, I would be open to criticism if I were to seek to influence how An Garda Síochána fulfil their duties to the Tribunal.

The rehiring of persons on a contract basis does not require the approval of either the Policing Authority or the Government. Neither is there a requirement to tender for the purposes of rehiring retired individuals on a temporary basis.

On a general note I would reiterate that the Government has been anxious to ensure that the Tribunal receives the greatest degree of assistance possible from all parties, not least An Garda Síochána. To that end the Government has been supportive of the former Commissioner, and continues to support the acting Commissioner in ensuring that the required resources are at the disposal of An Garda Síochána to service the Tribunal in a timely and effective manner. The then Commissioner identified that the requirements of the Tribunal could best be met by the re-engagement of a small number of retired persons and my Department approved this in February 2017, subject to formal sanction, which was conveyed in May 2017. The formal sanction provided for the engagement of three persons (i.e. two retired members of An Garda Síochána and one civilian) for up to nine months for the purposes of servicing the Tribunal. I am advised that the services of two retired senior members of An Garda Síochána (one retired Assistant Commissioner and one retired Chief Superintendent) were engaged initially for a period of six months and then for a further period of three months to 30 November 2017 in accordance with the formal sanction. Their contracts fully comply with pension abatement regulations.

Funding for the engagement of the persons concerned is met from within the Garda Vote. I am informed that the expenditure incurred to date is €78,840.

I would reiterate that the provision of these additional resources is to ensure that An Garda Síochána as an organisation is able to cooperate with the Tribunal to the fullest extent, without unduly affecting the ability of the organisation to continue to carry out its normal vital work.