Minister McEntee publishes review into office of the Sheriff

The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has today published a wide-ranging report into the role of Sheriffs in the State.

The Review focused on the future role of Sheriffs, to establish if the role currently operates in line with best international practice, or if there is a more efficient and cost effective system of debt collection. It was carried out by a group set up jointly with the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, under the chairmanship of a former Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Mr Noel Waters.

Commenting on the findings of the Review, Minister McEntee said:

The Department of Justice and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners established a Joint Review Group carried to carry out the report.

It was independently chaired by a former Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Mr Noel Waters, and it comprised representatives from the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, the Courts Service, the Departments of Justice, Housing and Finance and an external representative from the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI).

The Review Group noted that overall debt recovery rates appear to be high by international standards. Recovery data, involving significant amounts, indicates that the sheriff service is not only effective in practice but also efficient in the way it operates.

The report identifies five key areas of focus and sets out 27 recommendations to support the continuation of the office of Sheriff into the future.

The recommendations are set out under five thematic headings: Office of sheriff; enhancing trust and confidence in the sheriff service; financing-related matters; additional structural reforms and miscellaneous matters.

Among some of the key recommendations are to:

• bring the role into line with modern statutory offices and ensure the appropriate level of oversight by the State, including bringing sheriffs under the scope of the Ethics in Public Office Acts
• improve levels of accountability and transparency by collecting more detailed financial and enforcement-related data, which should in future be submitted by sheriffs on an annual basis
• consider additional responsibilities, which could be referred to a sheriff for enforcement. For example, the Review Group considered that it should be possible for a court to refer a ruling on child maintenance, including arrears cases, to the sheriff for enforcement

Sheriff Review Group Report

Background

The Joint Review Group was established by the Department of Justice and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners in 2022 to examine the role of sheriffs, as currently constituted, in respect of State work. The terms of reference of the Group focused on three specific areas of activity undertaken by sheriffs on behalf of the State: debt enforcement on behalf of Revenue; the role of sheriffs as receivers of fines; and the role of some sheriffs as returning officers in parliamentary and presidential elections as well as referendums.

The Review Group’s Report does not, therefore, deal with the debt enforcement activities of the Dublin and Cork sheriffs on behalf of non-State creditors, such as financial institutions, investment funds or landlords, which, for historical reasons outlined in the report, are undertaken elsewhere in the State by county registrars.

The suspension of debt collection activity by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners during the COVID-19 pandemic brought to light several issues regarding the role of sheriff and its viability under the existing structure.

Following the consultation process, and taking into account the deliberations of the Review Group, the Group agreed 27 recommendations and these are set out in the Report.

Consultation process

An open consultation process was undertaken between 3 and 24 March 2023. Simultaneously, a targeted consultation process was held whereby key stakeholders were asked for their views. Twelve submissions were received and these are listed at Appendix 3 of the Report. The submissions have been published on the Department of Justice website in conjunction with the publication of the Report.

A number of stakeholders were invited to present to the Group throughout the process, including the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), the County Registrars Association and The Sheriffs Association.

Summary of Issues Considered by the Review Group

Office of sheriff (Recommendations 1 – 9)

The Review Group examined the operation of the sheriff service in the State, including the way in which the role of sheriff has evolved over many centuries; the work currently undertaken by sheriffs on behalf of the State; and debt enforcement activities of sheriffs in some comparable jurisdictions. The Review Group also analysed the tax enforcement and debt recovery data for recent years supplied by Revenue.

Enhancing trust and confidence in the sheriff service (Recommendations 10 – 15)

The Review Group was keen to enhance trust and confidence in the office of the sheriff and to ‘future proof’ the role by putting in place confidence-building measure for the future. As such, recommendations 10-15 of the Report seek to bring the role into line with modern statutory offices and ensure the appropriate level of oversight by the State.

Financing-related matters (Rec 16 – 21)

The Review Group noted that the sheriff service provides an important debt enforcement mechanism that operates under a unique financing structure. The Group noted that the lack of detailed financial and other data including detailed data on income derived from fees and levels of expenses, resulted in the Review Group being unable to make detailed recommendations on a future financing model.

The Group recommended that a thorough review of the current financial model should be completed not later than 3 years after submission of the Review Group’s Report.

Additional structural reforms (Rec 22 – 23)

The activities of county registrars when exercising their “under-sheriff” functions lay outside the Review Group’s terms of reference. However, the Group recommended that reform proposals involving the possible transfer of the county registrars’ under-sheriff functions to sheriffs outside Dublin and Cork might be considered again when sufficiently detailed information and data on the operation of these functions have been collected.

The Group also looked at additional responsibilities, which could be referred to a sheriff for enforcement.

Miscellaneous matters (Rec 24 – 27)

The Review Group considered a number of miscellaneous matters including in relation to the Returning Officer role which is undertaken by the sheriffs in Dublin and Cork, the updating and streamlining of Court Rules governing execution orders and the improvement of channels of communication between An Garda Síochána and sheriffs.