Establishment of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission

Press Release 7 January 2004

Comisiún Thithe an Oireachtais, the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, came into existence on 1st January 2004 under the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act, 2003. This Act provides for a hand over of the authority and responsibility for provision of services to the Houses of the Oireachtas and their Committees, from the ultimate authority of the Minister for Finance to the Commission.

The Commission comprises 11 members (see appendix 1):

The functions of the Commission are clearly set out in legislation and are, in summary:

• To provide for the running of the Houses of the Oireachtas and administration and management of the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas;

And, within this, to:

• Oversee ongoing expenditure.
• Pay all salaries and expenses and keep and publish accounts.
• Exercise staff functions (via the Secretary General).
• Produce strategic plans, annual reports, estimates and information.
• Exercise certain functions of the Minister for Finance regarding secretarial assistance for parliamentary parties.
• Exercise certain legal functions (including participation in proceedings where necessary and arranging for legal advice).

This new arrangement for the Houses of the Oireachtas is in line with arrangements in a number of other parliaments in the EU and the world. The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission has been many years in gestation and arises partially from a recommendation made in the Committee of Public Accounts "DIRT Inquiry" report.

Dr. Rory O’Hanlon, TD, Ceann Comhairle and Chairman of the Commission, welcoming this historic development, said:

"The establishment of the Commission represents an unprecedented opportunity for both Houses of the Oireachtas to determine their own future direction and resourcing, consistent with their constitutional position."

The new Commission has approved an existing level of service estimate of €84.9m for the running of the Houses in 2004. This represents an increase of €3.1m, or 3.8%, on the estimates provision for 2003 and compares with an overall level of increase of 5% over 2003 for estimates for Government Departments and Offices published by the Minister for Finance in the Abridged Estimates volume in November 2003. The Commission also agreed the laying of its estimate for 2004 before Dáil Éireann to include a further indicative ceiling of €8.2m for 2004 i.e. up to a total €93.1m Commission budget for 2004 as published by the Minister for Finance in the White Paper on Receipts and Expenditure for 2004 (29 November 2003) for possible expenditure on implementation of new policies.

In the coming weeks, in the context of the overall three year budget ceiling of €295m set in the legislation, the Commission will examine closely the recommendations from the international benchmarking review consultancy (see appendix 2) and will decide on how best to deploy any additional resources available to it.

ENDS/

Enclosed please find appendices showing additional background information regarding the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission

APPENDIX 1 : MEMBERSHIP OF THE COMMISSION

Ex-Officio

Dr. Rory O’Hanlon T.D.,
Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann (Chairman)

Senator Rory Kiely,
Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann

Mr. Kieran Coughlan,
Clerk of Dáil Éireann and Secretary General of the
Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Nominee appointed by the Minister for Finance.

Mr. Brian Lenihan, T.D., Minister of State

Members appointed by the Houses of the Oireachtas

Senator Jim Higgins
Brendan Howlin T.D.
Tony Killeen T.D.
Senator Martin Mansergh
Paul McGrath T.D.
Liz O’Donnell T.D.
Senator Joe O’Toole.

The Authority of the Minister for Finance, in terms of sanctioning expenditure and staffing levels of the Houses of the Oireachtas, passed to the new Commission on establishment.

The Commission will have the authority to make its own expenditure decisions up to a statutory ceiling of €295m over the next three years. The Commission will be required to prepare and publish an annual estimate within this ceiling and to lay this before the Dáil. From now on, the expenditure of Houses of the Oireachtas will be charged and paid out of the Central Fund and there will no longer be an annual Vote of money for the Houses as part of the normal annual Departmental Estimates for Public Services.

The Commission has no role in relation to setting the levels of salaries, allowances or other entitlements of Members of the Houses or of terms and conditions of staff.

As has applied to the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas in the past, the Commission will be subject to annual audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, will be accountable to the Public Accounts Committee and will be subject to the Freedom of Information Acts.

Under the new legislation the Commission will be obliged to prepare and publish a Corporate Plan on which annual reports will also be made. Furthermore, the Commission has retained the services of an expert in Corporate Governance, Mr. Tom O’Higgins, to advise it on implementing best practice in this area.

On the resources front, when the intention to establish the Commission was first announced by the Minister for Finance in 2001, it was decided to engage the assistance of consultants, Deloitte & Touche, to carry out an international study to compare the staffing levels available to the Houses and to Members with those available in parliaments internationally. On foot of that study, Deloitte & Touche found that the Irish Parliament was significantly under-resourced by international comparison and made a number of recommendations to improve resources.

The three year budget of €295m will be sufficient to maintain existing levels of service over the next three years and make some additional resources available though not to the extent recommended by the consultants. The Commission will, in the coming months, be examining very closely the most efficient and effective means of using whatever additional resources are available as well as the existing use of resources.