Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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897. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the date on which the Prosecutorial Committee will become a working section of his Department; if he will clarify whether the deliberations of this committee would be available under FOI; and if he will provide the number of cases this section is processing and the number it has decided to prosecute on. [6717/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Prosecution through the Courts is an important component of my enforcement powers as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Consistent with good governance and in the interests of transparency, consistency and accountability, it is important that my Department can demonstrate that it has in place a structured, transparent, objective decision-making process in relation to these powers.

To that end, I have approved the establishment of a Prosecutions Committee in my Department to provide formal approval for both initiating prosecutions and / or the withdrawal of existing prosecutions.

The establishment of the Committee was notified to my Department's staff on 1st February 2023 and, from that date onward, proposals to prosecute (or proposals to withdraw an extant prosecution) are to be sent to the Committee for formal approval. The Committee will meet as necessary to consider such proposals and decisions will be recorded by the Legal Services Division of my Department.

Everyone involved in investigations and enforcement of my Department's legislation, including those accused of offences, will benefit from the improved recording and communicating of prosecution decisions that the establishment of the Committee is designed to bring about.

The work of the Committee is subject to Freedom of Information and all access to information requests will be determined in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2014. To date, no proposals have been submitted to the Committee.