Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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125. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of deep dives, including the date, agency and division, undertaken by his Department pursuant to the Toland report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53334/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Toland Report (Recommendation 7(a)(i) – Page 15) recommended that "the Department's Management Advisory Committee [now the Management Board] should do a deep dive into 3 divisions/agencies per month so that each is subject to annual review.”  

During 2015, my Department's Management Board undertook its first full year rotation of the new Annual Overview process and each body was covered during the year.  In 2016, the Board conducted a review of the learning during the first year and examined ways to further improve the process, including alignment with my Department's Corporate Governance Standard for Justice and Equality Bodies, which frames how the Department approaches its governance relationship with the Bodies under its aegis. Following that review, the Board established a sub-group on Agency Governance in March 2016 which conducts an annual overview of all the bodies under the Department's aegis, including adherence to the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, and reports to the Board on key issues.  The sub-group meets up to eight occasions annually conducting a review of  a number of bodies at each meeting. Following each meeting a detailed report is submitted to the Management Board for discussion and review. 

The total number of deep dives conducted since 2014 to date is 93 as follows: