Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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143. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the funding allocated to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement in each of the years 2010 to 2018; the amount expended in each year in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26084/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The funding allocation and expenditure for the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE) in respect of the years 2010 to 2018 are set out in the following table.

The distribution of the funding allocations across my Department’s Vote, including that of the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, is determined through the annual Revised Estimates Volume (REV) process.

A significant element of the non-pay allocation provided to the Office provides for possible legal costs. These costs, as well as their timing, are difficult to forecast as the Office has little or no control over the timing of when the cases will be determined. It is also the case that the Office cannot be sure of the outcome of cases in terms of costs orders and it cannot anticipate the scale of costs that other parties may seek. Whilst it is entirely prudent that provision continue to be made to meet legal costs in the Office’s subhead, the corollary of the uncertainty in relation to the amount, timing etc. of such costs can lead to underspends. This has been the case for the last number of years where the Office’s legal costs have been significantly less than anticipated thus giving rise to underspends.

There have also been underspends in the pay allocation. Over recent years, a number of senior-level vacancies have arisen within the Office through a combination of retirement, promotion and transfer to other parts of the public service. Whilst the Office, along with a number of other State organisations, faces challenges in the recruitment of highly qualified professional staff, particularly in the current buoyant labour market, I am satisfied that it has sufficient pay monies. At present, there are no requests for additional staffing from the Office.