Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003

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Functions of the Secretary General.

16.—(1) Subject to determination of matters of policy by the Commission and except as otherwise directed by the Commission or provided by or under any other Act, the Secretary General of the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas shall have the authority, responsibility and accountability for carrying out the following duties in respect of the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas:

(a) managing the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas, implementing and monitoring Commission policies appropriate to the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas, and delivering outputs as determined with the Commission,

(b) preparing, with a view to giving effect to subsection (6), an outline of how specific elements of the responsibilities described in paragraphs (c) to (g) are to be assigned so as to ensure that the functions performed on behalf of the Commission are performed by a member of the staff of the Commission of an appropriate grade or rank,

(c) providing advice to the Commission with respect to any matter within, affecting or connected with, the responsibilities of the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas giving rise to material expenditure chargeable to its accounts,

(d) ensuring that appropriate arrangements are put into place that will facilitate an effective response to matters that pertain to both the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas and other branches of the public service,

(e) ensuring that the resources of the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas are used in a manner that is in accordance with the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993 with a view to enabling the matters referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 19(1) of that Act to be appropriately addressed by the Secretary General,

(f) examining and developing means that will improve the provision by the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas of cost effective services,

(g) subject to the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 and the Civil Service Commissioners Act 1956 , managing all matters pertaining to appointments, performance, discipline and dismissals of staff below the grade of Principal (Higher), or its equivalent in the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas,

(h) assigning the responsibility for performance of the functions for which the Secretary General is responsible to members of the staff of the Commission of an appropriate grade or rank, including the conditions pertaining to such assignments, in order to ensure coherence of policy across the Office of the Houses of the Oireachtas, and ensuring that, where appropriate, the responsibility for the performance of those functions is further assigned to other members of the staff of the Commission of an appropriate grade or rank,

(i) providing progress reports on the implementation of the strategic plan, as defined in subsection (4)(b), annually to the Commission.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as preventing or limiting the Secretary General from carrying out, on behalf of the Commission, any other function of the Commission.

(3) The Secretary General shall be accountable to the Commission in carrying out the duties or functions referred to in subsection (1).

(4) (a) As soon as practicable after the establishment day, and after that within 6 months before each third anniversary of the establishment day or such other times as the Commission may direct, the Secretary General shall prepare and submit to the Commission, for approval with or without amendment by the Commission, a strategic plan for the following 3 year period.

(b) For the purposes of this section, “strategic plan” means a plan that shall—

(i) comprise the key objectives, outputs and related strategies including the use of resources of the Commission taking due account of relevant directions issued by the Government to Government Departments and Offices,

(ii) be prepared in a form and manner in accordance with any directions issued from time to time by the Commission, and

(iii) have regard to the need to make efficient use of the resources of the Commission.

(c) As soon as practicable after the strategic plan has been approved, the Commission shall cause a copy of it to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas.

(d) The Freedom of Information Act 1997 shall not apply to a record containing the following during the period of 5 years immediately following its creation:

(i) a strategic plan that has not been approved under paragraph (a),

(ii) a preliminary or other draft of the whole or part of the material contained in a strategic plan,

(iii) the unamended version of a strategic plan that is approved under paragraph (a) with amendment, or

(iv) a direction under subsection (5) in connection with the obligations of the Secretary General under subsection (4)(a) and (b).

(5) Subject to any other Act, but notwithstanding anything in this Act, the Commission may give directions to the Secretary General, in writing, in connection with the obligations of the Secretary General under subsections (1) to (4) other than subsection (1)(g).

(6) (a) The assignment of the responsibility for the performance of functions of the Secretary General under this section to members of the staff of the Commission of an appropriate grade or rank, shall include a requirement, where deemed appropriate to the assignment, that the member of the staff of the Commission to whom the assignment is made shall—

(i) provide policy advice in relation to the subject matter of the assignment and related matters,

(ii) achieve the outputs specified in the assignment,

(iii) assume responsibility for the statutory schemes or programmes specified in the assignment,

(iv) assume responsibility for the delivery of quality services in respect of the area of the assignment,

(v) ensure that the expenditure made in respect of the area of the assignment accords with the purpose for which the expenditure was chargeable to the accounts of the Commission and that value for money was obtained, and

(vi) perform, on behalf of the Secretary General, functions in respect of appointments, performance and discipline of personnel in the area of the assignment, other than dismissals, that are the responsibility of the Secretary General under subsection (1)(g).

(b) A member of staff of the Commission to whom the responsibility for the performance of functions has been assigned shall be accountable for the performance of those functions to the Secretary General and to such other members of staff of the Commission (if any) as may be specified under the assignment.

(7) The Secretary General, or any other member of staff of the Commission who is designated for the purposes of this section by the Secretary General, and to whom the relevant responsibility for the performance of functions has been assigned, and, when requested to do so in writing by an Oireachtas Committee authorised in that behalf to make the request in connection with the subject-matter before that Committee, shall appear before the Committee in relation to any strategic plan that has been laid before each House of the Oireachtas under subsection (4)(c).