Written answers

Tuesday, 23 October 2018

Department of Justice and Equality

Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission Staff

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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335. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the amount of additional funding to be made available to Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, following budget 2019. [43823/18]

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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336. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he is satisfied that the additional funding he is providing will meet the needs of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, and allow it to carry out its investigations thoroughly and promptly in view of the concerns raised by GSOC in relation to the resources available to it to properly investigate the killing of persons (details supplied). [43824/18]

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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337. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of personnel employed by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC; and the rank and responsibilities of each. [43825/18]

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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338. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the business case made by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, in February 2018 for additional staffing requirements. [43826/18]

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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339. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the additional resources he has allocated will meet the business case made by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC. [43827/18]

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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340. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his views on the number of additional staff the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, was seeking; the number of additional staff funding outlined in budget 2019 will provide for; and if it will meet the information technology requirements of GSOC. [43828/18]

Photo of Charles FlanaganCharles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 335 to 340, inclusive, together.

Following the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform's budgetary measures this month, I announced that GSOC would be allocated an additional €1.6 million in funding for 2019. I secured a budgetary increase of €0.6 million for 2019 and €1 million has been redirected from a now discontinued project and permanently attached to GSOC's annual budget. This will increase GSOC's 2019 budget to €10.7 million.

The additional €1.6 million in funding will enable GSOC to raise the staffing levels somewhat. In the meantime officials from my Department, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Commission have held discussions on the proposal from GSOC for additional staffing. I am awaiting a response from DPER to the proposal.

This Government has always been committed to ensuring that GSOC has the necessary supports and resources in order to fulfil its statutory functions and mandate. This commitment is demonstrated by allocating this extra funding so that GSOC will be able to maintain the high standards it operates to. The overall budget allocation to GSOC is expected to meet GSOC’s administrative needs, including information technology requirements, in terms of fulfilling the organisation’s current remit, and to provide for an increase in staffing, including to further expand the unit established to deal with protected disclosures.

GSOC's current staffing compliment is 91. The breakdown is provided in the following table.

Operations Staff:

Director of Investigations (Asst. Sec. equivalent)1
Deputy Director of Investigations (PO equivalent)1
Senior Investigations Officers (AP equivalent)8
Investigations Officers (HEO equivalent)21
Casework Assistant Principal Officers3
Casework Higher Executive Officers7
Casework Executive Officers4
Casework Clerical Officers8
Analysts (HEO equivalent)2
Assistant Investigations Officers (EO equivalent)7
Protected Disclosures Unit
Investigations Officers (HEO equivalent)3
Executive Officer1
Librarian and Legal Staff:
Librarian (Engineer Grade III)1
Head of Legal Unit (Principal Officer equivalent)1
Solicitors (Assistant Principal equivalent)2
Legal assistant (CO grade)1
Administrative staff:
Director of Administration (Asst. Sec. equivalent)1
Assistant Principal Officers (Administration)3
Higher Executive Officers (Administration)7
Executive Officers (Administration)5
Clerical Officers (Administration)

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