PARLIAMENTARY scrutiny of the Office of the Attorney General should be increased and a deputy Attorney General should be appointed immediately to reduce the heavy workload, according to a Dail Select Committee.
The report of the Dail Select Committee on Finance and General Affairs warned that if parliamentary scrutiny had been more developed and better focused, the difficulties experienced by the Office of the Attorney General in late 1994, (during the fall of the last Government) "might well have been avoided".
The report recommended the AG should formally be required to appear before the relevant Dail committee "from time to time" to account for the administration of the Office.
The committee also urged the Government to introduce legislation clearly defining the duties, responsibilities and prerogatives associated with the Office of the AG. This should include the circumstances and the extent to which the AG is empowered to act independently, "and providing for accountability to the Houses of the Oireachtas in a manner and to an extent consistent with such independence."
The committee felt the AG's role as protector of the public interest was one which required debate and clarification, particularly about the question of whether the role is one which should be exercised independently at the AG's sole discretion and without post facto accountability, either to government or the Oireachtas.
Referring to the exercise of administrative and other responsibilities, the committee could see "no good reason" why the BAG should not be accountable in a formal and direct way, to parliament for the administration of the Office. Examples were decisions about matters such as prioritisation of work, staff management and the cost of legal fees.
There was now need for the various roles and functions of the AG to be defined and codified in a single Act, which would also define the manner and extent of account ability applying in each case.
The committee, which is chaired by Mr Jim Mitchell of Fine Gael, also recommended the establishment of one or more posts of deputy AG. It felt that, apart from the "convoluted and constricted lines of accountability", there was a vast growth in the workload in recent times. The growth paralleled the overall growth in government itself over a period of years which warranted an increase in the number of junior ministers.
"The case for more additional assistance at ministerial and political level in the Office of the Attorney General is more compelling than in many of the Departments of State.
It was also felt there was need for a mechanism to cover situations in which the AG was unavailable or there was a temporary vacancy in the Office or a potential conflict of interest existing (arising, for example, from the activities of a holder of the Office, prior to their appointment), which compromises the post holder's ability to discharge, in specific instances, certain of their duties.
"Many of the Attorney General's functions are of a policy or political nature and, as such, cannot appropriately be delegated to legal staff who are civil servants or to outside lawyers. In these circumstances, the creation of a post or posts of deputy Attorney General, the holder of which would also assist the Attorney General in the overall discharge of the duties of the Office, suggests itself," the report said.
It was also felt that a number of counsel should be appointed to the Office to represent the State in court and tribunals. This would be more economic than hiring counsel on a fee basis.
"There is evidence that a compensation culture has developed against the State because of the lack of co ordination that exists at present. Moreover, many cases could be settled at an earlier date, thus saving both legal costs and compensation amounts, if an appropriate State appointee with due rank and authority were empowered to take speedy decisions where the State's interest so warranted. In other words, a State claims manager is needed."
The committee considered a deputy Attorney General might also be given this specific responsibility.