CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT - Agriculture · CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT Vacancy Assistant Secretary General Management Services, Accommodation and ... Head of Division: Gráinne Mulligan, Principal

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT

Vacancy

Assistant Secretary General

Management Services, Accommodation and

Health and Safety Division

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Human Resources Division

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Corporate Affairs Division

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Legal Services Division

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Sean Keevey

Director of Information Technology

IMT- Customer, Financial, Fisheries and Animal Health

Systems

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IMT Co-Ordination

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IMT - Infrastructure and Operations

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IMT - Direct Farm Payments Systems

(IACS)

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Kevin Smyth

Assistant Secretary General

Finance Division

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Accounts Division

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Internal Audit Unit

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Agricultural Appeals Office

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Vacancy, Assistant Secretary General

Office phone No:

Mobile No:

Responsible for the following Divisions

Division Head of Division Office No Mobile No

Management Services, Accommodation, and Health & Safety Division

Gráinne Mulligan

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Human Resources Division Sharon Murphy

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Corporate Affairs Division Kay Ryan

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Legal Services Division Derek Elliott

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MANAGEMENT SERVICES, ACCOMMODATION SERVICES AND

HEALTH AND SAFETY DIVISION

Head of Division: Gráinne Mulligan, Principal Officer

Management Services Division (MSD) provides the Department with analysis and advice on

organisational development, business process improvement, resource deployment and

change management. In addition the Division leads the Department’s response to public

service reform, specifically to:

lead, co-ordinate and report the Department’s response to the Government’s wider

public service reform agenda and participation in the Department of Public

Expenditure and Reform led Civil Service Renewal Plan.

The productivity measures agreed in the Haddington Road Agreement have facilitated the

Public Service Reform Plan 2014-2016 in maintaining emphasis on reducing costs and

increasing efficiency, as it moves the reform agenda towards stronger focus on the delivery

of optimum outcomes. Working in concert with this reform process, the ongoing

programme of reviews/examinations undertaken by MSD as part of its key functions, give a

focus to the reform agenda in the Department and have and will facilitate meeting the

requirements of public sector reform by assessing how, as an organisation, we can operate

more efficiently and effectively in delivering on the Department’s mission. The Organisation

for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are nearing completion of a review of

the Public Service Reform Plan 2014-2016. A report on findings is due to issue imminently

The role of this Division is to provide the Department with analysis and advice on

organisational development, business process improvement, resource deployment

and change management; to co-ordinate and implement where appropriate the

Department’s response to public service reform, to undertake Reviews, Investigations

and other Projects as requested/decided by MAC and to organise Heads of Division

and Staff Seminars as appropriate.

and a new Public Service Reform Plan to the period 2020 is due for publication later this

year.

In 2016 MSD carried out a wide ranging Organisational Review of DAFM. In response ,the

MB brought forward a 13 Action Plan to address the issues arising, including the roll out of

our new ‘Every One’ HR Strategy, including a new Learning and Development Policy, a new

ICT strategy , the creation of a Data Analytics Unit and a Programme Management Office,

improvement in our Customer Services and internal communications and facilitating the

creation of both cross-cutting/multi-disciplinary working groups and staff networks. MSD

also developed new DAFM Statement of Strategy 2016-2019 and a new Business planning

process for DAFM in 2017.

Activities for 2017:

1. Redesign DAFM’s Business Planning process and facilitate its implementation

2. Facilitate implementation of the Organisational Review (OR) Action Plan

3. Organise and facilitate Head’s of Division Seminars;

4. Lead and co-ordinate DAFM’s response to the Public Service Reform Agenda

5. Organise and deliver a series of staff engagement events, as follow up to the OR

Action Plan and the Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey in 2017

6. Promote CS Awards and Innovation

7. Lead the implementation and maintenance of Quality Management Systems and

Business Process Improvement;

8. Undertake Reviews, Investigations and other Projects as requested/decided by the

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HEALTH AND SAFETY SECTION

To achieve this, the Department, in so far as it is reasonably practicable:

Provides and maintains a working environment for employees and visitors (and

encourage those in control of working environments where Department employees

maintain a presence) that is without risk of injury and ill health.

Provides such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure

the safety, health and welfare of employees.

Continues to plan, implement, improve and review periodically the Department’s Health

and Safety Management System including safety statement manual to ensure it remains

relevant, appropriate and effective.

Communicates health and safety policy and procedures to employees, visitors and

contractors to ensure they are aware of their health and safety responsibilities.

Establishes annual health and safety objectives for the Department and produces an

annual health and safety plan to be periodically reviewed.

The Enterprise Risk Network of the State Claims Agency recently presented the Health and

Safety Section with an award in recognition of the Department working in collaboration with

the SCA and being the first Department to implement and continually develop an

internationally recognised Health and Safety Risk Management System across the

Department.

The role of this Division is to ensure the safety, health and welfare of Department

employees, to progress implementation of an Occupational Health and Safety Risk

Management System OHSAS 18001 across its functions and to ensure compliance with

relevant health and safety legislation and in particular the Safety, Health and Welfare

at Work Act 2005, regulations, codes of practice and considered best national and

international practice.

The SCA also presented two recognition awards to the Health and Safety Section for leading

successful risk management initiatives –

Development and implementation of a health and wellbeing initiative

Farm Safety Event for DAFM employees working on DAFM farms

Delivery mechanism

Health and Safety Section provides a coordinating function and an advisory role on

all matters relating to health and safety.

The Department has a wide range of responsibilities with staff performing office

based duties, on farm inspections, island farm inspections, inspection in food

business operations, management of 6 fishery harbours, provision of laboratory

services and management of Department research farms. A harmonised Health and

Safety Risk Management System [HSRMS] promotes and ensures a consistent

approach to health and safety risk management across the Department.

Ongoing communication with staff, representative bodies for staff, senior

management, Health and Safety Authority, State Claims Agency, Office of the Chief

Medical Officer, Peer Review Groups to progress risk management in the

Department.

A key element of the HSRMS is for the Health and Safety Section to carry out audits

to review implementation of the HSMRS and to ensure the HSRMS is effective in

meeting DAFM’s policy and objectives. The target for 2017 is to conduct 6 audits to

cover the broad functions of the Department.

Ongoing monitoring of the delivery of the HSRMS enables the identification of

training needs and updating and compiling of documentation including compiling

and updating of documentation, including compiling and reviewing risk assessments,

policies, procedures and guidance documents.

Periodic meetings with the State Claims Agency to review the implementation of the

HSRMS, the level and type of accidents/incidents during any period, review risk level

and advise accordingly.

Health and Safety Section provides ongoing assistance to line management i.e. the

preparation of safety statements for the office/facilities for which they are

responsible, site specific needs, fire safety management, risk assessment, and

identification of appropriate personal protective equipment including EN standard.

ACCOMMODATION SERVICES

Role of Accommodation Services Division: Ministerial Briefing

1. Background

The role of Accommodation Services Division is to provide a high quality service to the

Minister, Minister(s) of State, and internal and external customers through appropriate

accommodation, utilities (non IT), and supplies (non IT) and to support the Department’s

certification to ISO 27001 standard on information security and ultimately the efficient and

effective management of the state assets.

The Division manages the DAFM property portfolio, made up of 6 main offices, 16 regional

offices, other offices and 9 laboratories and field stations with a budget of approx €10

million annually for associated costs. The Division is responsible for all services payments

associated with these locations. It monitors and reports on the Department’s Energy usage

to the SEAI.

As part of the Government’s objective to improve public sector energy efficiency by 33% by

2020,the Department has been participating in the OPW Energy Efficiency Programme for

public sector bodies – “Optimising Power at Work” for the last number of years. This

programme is generating savings and environmental benefits from greater energy efficiency

through staff awareness programmes. The Department is committed to energy efficiency

The role of Accommodation Services Division is to provide a high quality service to the

Minister, Minister(s) of State, and internal and external customers through appropriate

accommodation, utilities (non IT), and supplies (non IT) and to support the

Department’s certification to ISO 27001 standard on information security and

ultimately the efficient and effective management of the state assets.

and has established an energy team to drive forward initiatives in this area. This team has

undertaken SEAI Energy MAP Training Programme. A number of projects have been

undertaken and a list of pipeline projects have been proposed. The team will continue to

work closely with OPW and the SEAI in 2017 to increase energy efficiency across the

Department.

Staff are based in:

Dublin with responsibility for Agriculture House, Backweston Administration

Building, other offices in Dublin city and state inspection facilities at Dublin Port and

Airport.

Portlaoise with responsibility for 4 main offices, 16 regional offices, all other

provincial offices and 8 laboratories and field stations, and the inspection facilities at

ports and airports.

2. Topical key issues:

The Department, through the Office of Public Works (OPW) has delivered significant savings

to the state budget through relinquishing of leases and reconfiguration of office space to

allow for a smaller footprint. In 2009, in line with government policy, DAFM began a process

of restructuring its local office network which will ultimately reduce the number of local

offices from 58 to 16 enhanced Regional Offices.

At present the focus is on the following major projects

Port and Airport Facilities

consolidation of the office accommodation footprint in Portlaoise

refurbishment of HQ Agriculture House

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Agriculture House

DAFM is working closely with OPW to agree on some refurbishment works within

Agriculture House.

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HUMAN RESOURCES DIVISION

Head of Division: Sharon M Murphy, Principal Officer

General Structure of Human Resources

With just over 3,000 staff, the Department operates from six large centralised locations

across the country, sixteen regional offices, Fishery harbours, Meat Plants, Border

Inspection Posts and Laboratories. In addition to the general administrative grade streams,

the Department employs a number of technical and professional grade steams, including

Technical Agricultural Officers, Veterinary Practitioners, Agricultural Inspectorate, Forestry

Inspectorate, Engineers, Harbour Masters, Laboratory specialists and services support staff.

Deployment of resources

The moratorium on recruitment that was in place up to November 2014 and incentivised

retirement schemes for staff has placed significant pressure on the level of resources in the

Department and the availability of adequate skilled staff in certain areas. During the

moratorium, the Department operated under staffing thresholds set by Department of

Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) and these thresholds decreased annually.

Throughout this period HR Division and MAC critically assessed business needs within the

Department and worked closely with DPER to ensure that critical priority frontline services

were maintained i.e. statutory requirement to ensure Veterinary supervision in meat plants

was maintained. The Department secured delegated sanction from DPER in May 2015. This

removed the numbers threshold and provided the Department with flexibility to recruit and

deploy resources subject to adherence to specified pay ceilings which are fixed and binding

The mission of the Division is to continue to develop a highly skilled, diverse and

gender balanced workforce; build a culture of leadership and innovation; provide the

necessary resources to strategically support the effective and efficient operation of all

Business Areas of the Department.

for 2015-2017. Compliance with these pay ceilings will be regularly monitored on the basis

of the Department continuing to effectively deliver services, particularly as there is

significant additional work in several areas, such as implementation of provisions of

reformed Common Agricultural Policy and Common Fisheries Policy and our increasing

workload and responsibilities with regard to food safety, animal welfare, animal and plant

health and other controls, market access, ISO, etc. The delegated sanction allows DAFM to

recruit and promote staff up to and including Principal Officer and equivalent grades,

subject to adherence to the binding three year pay ceilings. From 2015 to date, the

Department has recruited in excess of 200 new staff across a range of disciplines. In order

to meet our resource needs, the Department anticipates that we require 3200 staff across all

the various skills sets. The Department is working closely with the Public Appointments

Service (PAS) to ensure that we meet our resource needs.

To determine our resource priorities, the Department undertakes several processes to

support better identification of critical needs including annual business plans and

Departmental workforce planning. Having secured delegated sanction, HR Division

implements a quarterly prioritisation process with the members of the Management Board

(MB) to fill resource needs in line with current business needs. MB members individually

prioritise needs and these are then considered collectively by MB. It is the responsibility of

HR Division to source the resources prioritised by MB through recruitment in association

with the Public Appointments Service, internal promotion, internal mobility, training, etc.

In some sectors, DAFM is statutorily obligated to ensure resources are deployed i.e. under

Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 (laying down specific rules for the organisation of official

controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption), DAFM as the

“Competent Authority” has a legal obligation to have an Official Veterinarian in export

approved slaughter plants. The closure of any export approved slaughter plant due to

DAFM’s inability to provide the requited DAFM veterinary presence in such a plant would

result in a loss of jobs at the plant in question and significant reputational damage for DAFM

and for Irish beef internationally.

Table 1 : Department staff by location

Challenges facing the Department

The Department continuously evaluates our HR requirements in line with our business

needs and works closely with our recruitment partners, the Public Appointments Service

(PAS) to address those needs. The current PAS system is under pressure as all Departments

and Public Service Organisations are actively seeking new recruits and this is impacting on

the speed at which new recruits are allocated to us. We are working closely with PAS to

address this and resources have been assigned from this Department to assist PAS.

Attracting new recruits with the required skills set is challenging due to the competitive

employment environment, comparative salary levels in private sector, diverse geographic

spread of employment locations, etc. The Department is working closely with the Public

Appointment Service to address our recruitment issues and has begun to participate in

Career Fairs/Events to attract suitable skills set to the Department.

The complex range of skills required in the Department leads to challenges in the re-

organisation of work and the filling of critical vacancies. HR Division launched a new HR

strategy in 2016 that will provide the basis for a number of policies aimed at addressing

these challenges

The current demographic in the Department is particularly challenging as 14% of our staff

are aged over 60, 40% are aged between 50- 60 and 29% are aged between 40-50. HR

Division will monitor this situation closely and incorporate succession planning provisions in

our workforce planning process to ensure continuity of service.

Civil Service Renewal

The Department is fully committed to actively participating in all aspects of the Civil Service

Renewal process.

Administration Budget (Payroll, etc)

In line with delegated sanction arrangements, the Department is fully committed to

operating within our agreed payroll threshold.

The following tables set out the payroll and associated allocations and outturns for 2016

and 2017:

Administration Salaries, Wages and allowances

2016 Allocation

(€,000)

172,902

2016 Outturn (€,000)

159,158

2017 Allocation

(€,000)

174,719

Payroll allocation

The increase in payroll allocation for 2017 is to cover the recruit of up to 200 additional staff

to account for current and future business needs and to ensure we deliver core business

functions. Delays experienced in recruiting new staff in 2016 gave rise to a saving of

approximately €13.5m in the 2016 payroll allocation.

Overtime

Since 2007 expenditure on overtime has been reduced by 73%. The use of overtime in this

Department is an efficient mechanism for dealing with peaks in the levels of activity that

arise with many of the Department’s schemes. For example, operation of the Basic

Payment Scheme requires on-farm inspections to be carried out in specific months of the

year, while abattoirs and meat processing plants have traditionally been busiest from late

summer onwards. In these circumstances the use of overtime is one of the strategies used

by management to match resources available to the Department with fluctuating demands

in an efficient and cost-effective manner. In 2016, overtime expenditure amounted to just

over €3m.

Travel and Subsistence

The largest component is home travel mainly on control inspections for EU schemes, animal

health controls and meat inspection/food safety services.

The Department’s travel expenditure is continuously being monitored and activities that

require regular travel are reviewed with a view to reducing travel costs. In the period 2008

to 2014 the Department reduced annual travel and subsistence expenditure by some

€8.232m (54%). These considerable savings have been delivered by deploying technology,

improving business processes and rationalising inspections. However, it must be borne in

mind that much of the Department’s business takes place on farms and other premises,

which are in remote locations. In 2016, Travel & Subsistence expenditure amounted to

€6.9m.

Industrial Relations

In general DAFM enjoys good working relations with the various staff associations

representing the different grade streams. HR Division meets the staff associations

collectively on a quarterly basis to discuss and resolve IR issues and also regularly meets

individual staff associations bilaterally. Since the downturn in the public finances which

commenced in 2008 the way DAFM now conducts its business has changed significantly.

There have been expenditure cuts, reductions in budgets, and this Department, as indeed all

other Departments, had been operating under a moratorium and within a tight Employment

Control Framework (ECF). This has affected all staff. The Croke Park Agreement and its

successors, the Haddington Road Agreement and the Landsdowne Road Agreement also

require greater degrees of flexibility and efficiency from all staff through changing work

practices and other initiatives. In general staff have coped well with these conditions but

they have generated some stresses amongst staff .

Two particular IR issues of note are:

Technical Agricultural Officers - Impact

IMPACT has a number of branches representing DAFM staff. The largest such branch is the

Agriculture No. 1 Branch representing officers in the Technical Agricultural Officer grade

stream (circa 640 staff). This number reflects a substantial reduction in that grade stream

since 2008 when there was circa 1,000 staff.

These grades are deployed on duties across a number of work areas in the Department and

report to either the veterinary or agriculture inspectorate grade stream depending on their

area of assignment.

There has been a large reduction in the technical staff numbers in recent years. DAFM has

managed this reduction because changing business needs and changing work practices have

reduced the demand for staff. This level of reduction in numbers and changes in practices

has led to a feeling of uncertainty amongst Technical Officers regarding their role in the

Department. A further general concern which has continuously been raised by IMPACT

Agriculture No. 1 Branch, on behalf of their members, is that the core work of technical staff

has been eroded over the last number of years and that in many cases this work has been

reassigned to the Veterinary and Inspectorate streams.

DAFM has had ongoing discussions with IMPACT (both internally within DAFM) and at the

Labour Relations Commission (LRC) in relation to that and other issues. In August 2014, in

the context of the commencement of conciliation on a number of issues under the auspices

of the Labour Relations Commission, DAFM and the Agriculture No. 1 Branch of IMPACT

agreed to enter into a meaningful process in order to address the issues of duties

appropriate to the technical grades. To that end both parties agreed to an establishment of

a Working Group to be facilitated by an Independent Body. Both parties agreed to accept

the findings of that Working Group and to agree an Implementation Framework in respect

of those findings.

The Working Group’s Report found that a key initial issue for both sides in developing this

Framework should be to recognise the need for much improved communication, rebuilding

trust and allowing operational issues to be addressed and dealt with without immediate

recourse to the Industrial Relations machinery. The report made various findings supporting

the implementation of a range of more flexible working practices for these officers and the

implementation of team based working and cross stream reporting.

IMPACT initially voted to reject the report. However, after two years IMPACT has accepted

that the report in binding in the context of the central IR agreements. HR has begun a

process of engagement with IMPACT for the purpose of moving forward on these issues.

Temporary Veterinary Inspectors (legal case (xxxxxxxxxx and four other TVIs) re their

status (contractor or employee))

Under Regulation (EC) No 854/2004 (laying down specific rules for the organisation of

official controls on products of animal origin intended for human consumption), DAFM as

the “Competent Authority” has a legal obligation to have an Official Veterinarian in each

export approved slaughter plant. In the context of the consequent provision of the

regulatory meat inspection service in each such plant DAFM is assisted by the use of part-

time Temporary Veterinary Inspectors (TVIs) who are engaged as and when required on a

contract for services basis. They assist the permanent staff of the Department of

Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in a part-time contractor capacity in performing

the regulatory functions of meat inspection. TVI’s are not employees of the Department.

From a legal prospective, TVIs are contractors insofar as DAFM is concerned. A TVI panel

exists for each of the 47 or so export approved slaughter plants in the country.

However since the closure of Galtee Meats (an export approved slaughter plant) in October

2004, five TVIs ) applied to the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) to have their

entitlements under the Redundancy Payments Acts determined. This case also effectively

decides the employment status of these individuals.

This issue has been considered by the EAT and the EAT found in favour of the Department

i.e. that the individuals are not employees of the Department. The individuals concerned

have appealed this decision to the courts on a point of law.

CORPORATE AFFAIRS DIVISION (CAD)

Head of Division: Kay Ryan, Principal Officer

The main areas of work are:

Press and Information Office

The Press and Information Office is responsible for the issue of Press Releases, organising

media launches/briefings, responding to information requests and the coordination of

sector specific articles for various publications. The Office also monitors the various media

outlets and maintains the Departments social media presence (on Twitter @agriculture_ie).

The Office also places advertisements in the print, broadcast and online media.

The role of the Press Officer is:

to act, as appropriate, as spokesperson for the Minister and the Department on

media issues, in co-operation with the Minister’s Advisors,

to implement an efficient, prompt proactive and reactive press function

in order to maximise publicity for Department and Ministerial activities,

to advise the Minister, Minister(s) of State and the Department in

general on press matters,

to liaise closely with the offices of the Minister and Minister(s) of State,

the Secretary General’s Office and with Ministers’ Advisers,

The primary role of this Division is to manage the Department’s media and external

communications strategy and co-ordinate various inter-Departmental and inter-

Divisional functions, including those relating to North/South relations. The Division’s

role also includes overseeing Corporate Governance of State Bodies in association with

the relevant line Divisions and providing a quality service to the Minister and Minister of

State.

to liaise with Government Information Service (GIS), including

representing the Department at weekly GIS meetings,

to promote efficient and effective use of advertising budget,

to build public awareness of our various schemes and services,

to increase the use of electronic forms of communication as a means of

increasing awareness of Ministerial and Department activities, including

social media, podcasts etc.

Co-ordination

The Division co-ordinates the provision of speeches/ PQ replies/ briefing etc. for the

Minister and Minister of State as well as the Department’s responses to Government

Memoranda and works with the Ministers’ Advisers on the publication of Ministerial

Newsletters. It is also responsible for the compilation of the Department’s Annual Report.

Data Protection/Freedom of Information /Access to Information on the Environment

CAD is responsible for the development and roll out of policies in the area of Data

Protection including Data Retention and the National Archives Act having particular regard

to our obligations under the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation as well as

the ISO 27001 project. The Division also manages all matters relating to FOI Act 2014 and

the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007 -

2014.

Customer Service

As part of its role in the area of customer service, CAD responds to customer service

complaints as well as co-ordinating responses to Ombudsman cases. It also has an

overarching role in monitoring progress on targets and undertakings set out in the Farmers’

Charter of Rights and co-ordinates for the independently chaired Farmers Charter of Rights

Monitoring Committee meetings. The Division also oversees the publication of Department

information/publications on the Department’s website and internal eZone and publishes a

staff magazine twice a year. CAD is currently liaising with IMT Division on a project to

improve the appearance of the Department’s website and to remove obsolete material

from the website.

Oireachtas Liaison Unit

As part of its customer service, a dedicated Oireachtas Liaison Unit has been set up within

the Department to handle payment queries from TDs and Senators on behalf of their

constituents. It is the first point of contact with the Department for individual payment

queries for schemes under Pillar I and Pillar II of the reformed Common Agricultural Policy

and will endeavour to achieve fast turnaround times. The uptake of the service and

response time taken to answer individual queries is monitored on an on-going basis to

ensure that a quality service is being provided and that queries are being answered in a

timely manner.

Irish Language

CAD seeks to ensure that the Department meets its obligations under the Official Languages

Act 2003 and its Irish Language Scheme.

State Bodies

There are twelve State Bodies under the aegis of the Department. See Chapter 6. Corporate

Affairs Division has an oversight role in conjunction with relevant line Divisions, in

monitoring State Bodies, specifically in the area of Corporate Governance.

Board membership

For details on arrangements for appointments to the Boards of State Bodies please see

Chapter 6.

Emergency Planning

Corporate Affairs Division has a co-ordinating role for emergency planning within DAFM. It

represents the Department on the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning and

subcommittees including Severe Weather National Co-ordination, CBRN (Chemical,

Biological, Radiological Nuclear) incidents, Risk, Communications and the National

Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents. The Department has an Emergency Planning Co-

Ordination Committee the purpose of which is to oversee emergency and business

continuity planning arrangements within the Department.

Shows and Events

CAD is responsible for organising the Department’s presence at the National Ploughing

Championship which take place from 19-21 September this year and has a co-

ordination/supporting role in organising other events/conferences including SeaFest,

Ireland’s national maritime festival, incorporating the Our Ocean Wealth Conference, which

will be held in Galway from 30 June – 2 July 2017.

Integrated Marine Plan

Harnessing Our Ocean Wealth (HOOW) - Ireland’s Integrated Marine Plan, published in mid-

2012, set out a roadmap for a vision, high-level goals and integrated actions across policy,

governance and business to enable Ireland’s marine potential to be realised. The Plan is an

initiative of the Inter-Departmental Marine Co-ordination Group (MCG), chaired by the

Minister for Agriculture Food and the Marine. The MCG brings together senior officials of

Departments with an involvement in marine issues, together with the Marine Institute, to

drive forward the Government’s marine strategy and coordinate issues that require cross-

departmental action.

North South Ministerial Council (NSMC)

No meetings of the North South Ministerial Council have been held since the suspension of

the NI Assembly in January 2017. The implications of the UK decision to leave the EU

dominated the NSMC Plenary Sessions in July and November 2016. At the July Plenary it was

agreed that full sectoral audits would be carried out by both sides to identify the possible

impacts, risks, opportunities and contingencies that may arise from Brexit. At the November

Plenary, Council agreed that representatives from both sides would meet regularly to

review developments, serving as a high level working group on Brexit, and both

Governments would be guided by a set of common principles

Background to North South Ministerial Council

North South Ministerial Council Plenary meetings are normally held twice a year,

alternatively hosted by each side. Attendees include the Taoiseach and relevant Minister/s

with the Northern side represented by the First Secretary and Deputy Secretary and N.I.

Ministers. There have been twenty three Plenary meetings held to date, with the last one in

Armagh in November 2016. It is the turn of the Southern side to host the next Plenary

session which are usually held in Dublin Castle.

There are 12 sectors in all under the ambit of the NSMC. Six of these are North/South Bodies

and the remaining are agreed areas of co-operation, one being agriculture. Each sector holds

two meetings a year. To date there have been twenty six NSMC Agriculture Sectoral

meetings. The next one will be chaired by the Northern side.

The agreed areas of co-operation for Agriculture under the Good Friday Agreement are:-

the development of an All-Island Animal Health Strategy for control of animal

movements and the prevention, containment and eradication of epizootic diseases

in Ireland.

the development of an All-Island Plant Health and Research Strategy including co-

operation between both jurisdictions in relation to plant protection products.

liaison on issues arising at WTO, EU enlargement and the mid-term review of the

CAP.

LEGAL SERVICES DIVISION

Head of Division: Derek Elliott, Principal Officer

Structure of Division

The Division is divided into Legal Services (based in Dublin) and Lands/Records Branch

(based in Cavan with Records Section based in Portlaoise).

Legal Services

Legal Services Division provides legal and general advice to the Minister and all Divisions in

the Department. The Division manages court actions in the Minister’s name (other than

certain criminal prosecutions such as fisheries offences). Legal Services Division acts as an

interlocutor between departmental officials and the State’s legal representatives. Lawyers

in the Division represent the Department in quasi judicial tribunals such as Agriculture

Appeals and Workplace Relations Commission. The Division provides advice on property

rights (including the assignment of herd numbers), property law including leases:

employment and contract law; EU law including State Aids and interventions in the Court of

Justice; debt management; data protection; freedom of information and application of

various State policies and corporate governance measures.

Legal Services also drafts some 60 statutory instruments each year; is responsible for

steering primary legislation through the Oireachtas and ensuring the lawfulness of statutory

notices. The Division also provides guidance on regulatory impact assessments and use of

consultative processes required under statute.

Mission: To provide a pro-active and quality legal and general advisory service to the

Minister and all Divisions in the Department and to manage the orderly completion of

the work of the former Irish Land Commission and to continue to carry out the residual

statutory functions exercisable under the Land Purchase Acts.

Legal Services Division prepares Vesting Orders and fulfils the role of the former Examiner of

title in the former Irish Land Commission. It is responsible for the implementation of the

Agriculture Debentures Act 1934. The Division is also preparing over half million Fair Rent

Orders made under the 1870 and 1881 Lands Acts for transfer to the National Archives.

Lands /Records Branches

The Irish Land Commission (ILC) was abolished in 1999, on foot of the provisions of the Irish

Land Commission (Dissolution) Act, 1992 which transferred the residual judicial powers and

functions to the President of the High Court and the corresponding civil powers and

functions to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Under Ministerial orders the

principal specific statutory functions of the ILC were delegated by the Minister to designated

grades of officer in this Department. As successor to the ILC the Minister/Department are

responsible for the streamlining and orderly completion of its work where possible and the

carrying out of residual services and continuing statutory functions exercisable under the

Land Purchase Acts.

Ongoing work includes the disposal of land including turbary rights, the management and

disposal of other land that is legally vested in trustees but where the Minister exercises

certain residual powers, vesting the title of purchasers, collecting outstanding annuities,

preparation of Judicial Amending Orders, completion of commonage division and re-

arrangement schemes, processing requisitions mainly from the legal profession and the

general public for copy documents/information and discharging the functions of the Public

Trustee.

ISSUES

Legal Services Division is involved in many topical and key issues raised by other Divisions

however a key issue for the Division is the 31st Dail Public Account Committee’s

recommendations in relation to a particular case. The individual in question has initiated

legal proceedings against the Minister but the PAC issued recommendations requesting that

the Department pay compensation to him, arrange for an independent review of his case

and enter mediation with him Apart from prejudicing the Minister’s case, these

recommendations could be viewed as breaching the Constitutional separation of powers by

interfering in the judicial role. Counsel’s advice is awaited on the matter.

Another issue relates to the transposition of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

Directive 2014/52/EU. A deadline of completing the transposition by 16 May 2017 has not

been met by Ireland. The Department of Housing, Planning, community and Local

Government have taken the lead in the transposition and are in regular contact with the

European Commission. This Department has transposed the Directive in respect of Forestry

with effect from 24 May this year. We are now progressing with the transposition of the

Directive into the Agriculture and Aquaculture sectors and expect the matter to be

completed shortly.

Sean Keevey, Director of Information Technology

Office phone No: xxxxxxxxx

Mobile No: xxxxxxxxxx


Division Head of Division Office No Mobile No IMT- Customer, Financial, Fisheries & Animal Health Systems

Joe Hanly

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IMT Co-Ordination

Louise Jevens

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IMT- Infrastructure and Operations

Darren Murray

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IMT- Direct Farm Payments Systems (IACS)

Alan King

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INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

Heads of Divisions: Joe Hanly, Louise Jevens, Darren Murray and Alan King, Principal Officers

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is critically dependent on

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in the following main areas:

Agriculture Payments: Direct Payments to Farmers and Market Supports to the Food

Export Trade.

Animal Identification, Health, Traceability and Disease Eradication.

Agriculture Field Inspections and Testing e.g. TB testing.

Fisheries Control and Licensing.

Afforestation grants and premia.

Direct online services via the ‘Agfood.ie’ and ‘Fishingnet.ie’ portals for customers

and partners (e.g. Farmers, Agents, Meat Factories, Marts, Export locations, Private

Veterinary Practitioners, Animal Tag Vendors Foresters, Fish buyers etc.).

Finance and accounting systems which underpin EU accreditation and national fiscal

requirements and other corporate support functions.

Office systems including email, intranet and internet services.

The delivery of ICT services within the Department is managed by the Information

Management and Technology (IMT) Group. The delivery of ICT in the Department is aligned

with the overall strategies, goals and objectives of the Department and the Strategy for

Information Management and Technology 2017-2020, which sets out the detailed goals and

objectives for IMT. Appendix 1 sets out the main objectives of the IMT Divisions for 2017,

which in addition to the day to day delivery of services, is dominated to a large extent by the

continued implementation of the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 CAP 2015-2020 schemes. Appendix 2

gives diagrammatical representations of some of the ICT services and systems that we

provide. Demonstrations of the actual systems can be provided to the Minister at any stage.

ICT infrastructure and systems in DAFM support the administration of €2 billion in EU and

Exchequer funds annually and underpin a huge range of farming and agri-food industry

supports, as well as providing animal health and traceability, disease control and food safety

systems for a sector with a turnover of €26 billion and €12 billion in annual exports. The

Department sees the continued exploitation of ICT, both within the Department in the

administration of our schemes and services and in collaboration with the agri-food industry,

as a major driver in the achievement of the Food Wise 2025 targets.

IMT in the Department has a commitment to exploit technology opportunities and service-

focused initiatives to improve the quality of service delivery for both the farming community

and the agri-food industry. The advanced use of ICT in DAFM has contributed significantly

to substantial savings in the costs of running the Department, it has facilitated the provision

of shared services to various State Agencies and other Government Departments and

enabled ongoing delivery of existing services, while also planning for future service delivery

in the context of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)

reform and in meeting Food Wise 2025 growth targets.

Specifically, in relation to animal health and traceability, IMT systems provide traceability

for circa 9 million animal events/movements, and manage up to 12 million animal health

tests per year.

Public Service Reform Plan

In relation to ICT, the Department has committed under the Public Service Reform Plan

2014 and the Public Service ICT Strategy to:

Further increase the online up-take of our ICT offerings and reduce the

administration burden on farmers and the agriculture industry1

1 The Department has continued to improve and promote use of its online services for the existing and the new CAP schemes such the new Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) (89% online uptake in 2017), GLAS (100% online applications in 2015 and 2016), TAMS (100% online applications in 2015, 2016 and 2017), AIM, AFIT, IFORIS iNet and Nitrates systems and also encourage further uptake of its mobile text messaging service. The Department also has a presence on social media such as Twitter and Facebook. From 2018 the Department will be required by EU regulation to accept applications for the Basic Payment Scheme by online application only.

Continue to provide ICT services for our Non Commercial State Sponsored Bodies

such as Teagasc, Sea Fisheries Protection Authority, Bord Iascaigh Mhara etc.

The Department has moved to service provision online as a norm for business

processes and service delivery and this is a primary focus in the delivery of the new

CAP reform schemes e.g. GLAS, BPS,ANC, BDGP, TAMS and Knowledge Transfer.

Further increase its ICT Shared Service offerings to other civil and public sector

organisations.2

Continue to re-use customer, land, animal and fisheries data across multiple

systems, divisions and food/fishing industries.

Continue to enhance of our ICT services to facilitate the programme of managing

overall staffing levels within the Department.

Progress Government Strategy in relation to Cloud Computing, including the

proposal to build a Government owned and run World Class Private Cloud Data

Centre on DAFM owned Backweston Campus. The project is being sponsored by the

Office of Government CIO (OGCIO) and being progressed in conjunction DAFM,

Department of Social Protection and Revenue. When complete it will be available as

a service to the whole Civil Service.

IMT’s Current Sourcing Strategy

The successful development of our ICT systems has been achieved by a judicious mix of both

internally and externally sourced ICT staff. The general ICT sourcing principles adopted by

the Department have been to use external contractors for certain specialised roles (such as

Java programming, Geographical Information Systems development and database

administration) and for the vast proportion of its application programming and to retain the

higher-value tasks (such as Project Management, Systems Analysis, Technical Architecture

etc.) in-house.

2 DAFM continues to provide ICT services for other Government Departments and Agencies. DAFM provides full ICT Infrastructure and help desk facilities to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. DAFM also assists the Department of the Taoiseach in management of its ICT network and the bulk of telephony services.

In addition, the Department externally outsources the task of registering paper based Calf

Birth events (circa 1m (46%) in 2015). The registration and animal events are recorded by

an external company directly onto the Departments’ Animal Identification and Movement

(AIM) system which interacts seamlessly with the Department’s Animal Health Computer

System (AHCS) to provide real-time data on animal events.

How IMT operates in the Department

In recent years, the Department has delivered an unrivalled ICT portfolio of new integrated,

eGovernment applications. As a result the Department now has a more flexible

eGovernment based environment, which was achieved by incrementally upgrading and

replacing older applications and ICT infrastructure. As a result of this work the Department

has benefited greatly in recent years from the exploitation of technology and information

systems to underpin its operations.

Innovative IT systems delivered in recent years have targeted significant sources of labour

within the Department, automated processes, provided staff savings, eliminated

duplication, improved controls and maximised information re-use across the Department

and agri-food sector.

The Department’s ICT capability has contributed towards a significant reduction in staff

numbers, by successfully implementing several integrated corporate systems [such as, the

Corporate Customer System (CCS), the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), Generic Claims

Processing System (GCPS), Animal Identification and Movement (AIM), Animal Health

Computer System (AHCS) and Integrated Forestry Information System (IFORIS)] and

facilitated the successful integration of the ICT Fisheries environment.

Through the technological maturity of the Department and its positioning to offer agility and

flexibility to its various business divisions, this Department, has to date, met its challenges

and delivered changes in an efficient, effective and timely manner. Maintaining and

enhancing this level of response and adaptability is the core strategy of IMT over the coming

years.

In the past two years the Department successfully launched and continues to process over

20 new CAP Schemes to extremely tight delivery timelines. This can only be achieved by the

support of extensive online end to end computer schemes, which allowed these schemes to

be processed with the least manual intervention possible. The Department continues to be

among the first in Europe to make payments for these schemes.

The delivery of payments in 2017 is on-going with GLAS I and II advance payments almost all

complete. In addition the GLAS I and GLAS II balancing payments are due to issue at the end

of June. TAMS IT functionality is available to pay the vast bulk of applicants. As of

early/mid-June functionality is outstanding to pay approximately 70 applicants – whose

application is subject to penalty. It is expected that for the bulk of these cases functionality

will be available to make payments by end of June. For the very small remaining cohort of

applicants, functionality will be available in August.

With regards to other delivery timelines, we are currently on target.

IMT Governance Structure

The IMT Group is divided into four main operational areas and the overall responsibility for

the group lies with the Director of IMT as demonstrated below:

The IT Steering Committee (ITSC) is a Management Advisory Committee (MAC) sub-group

that directs all IMT activity within the Department. The Director of IMT is also a

Management Board member and is responsible for the strategic direction of the IMT Group

and promotion of the use of ICT solutions and innovations throughout the Department.

Accordingly the Director regularly reports to the Management Board on IMT activities and

prioritisations.

As part of ensuring the IMT Activities are aligned to the aims and objective of the

Department, IMT has recently implemented a new ICT Strategy for the years 2017 to 2020.

This exercise will help ensure that the Departments ICT Infrastructure is fit-for-purpose,

keeps up with the massive changes in ICT that are currently taking place and continues to

provide the Department with the services that it needs into the long term future.

At the beginning of every year the IMT priorities are collated, presented, discussed and

sanctioned by the ITSC. The ITSC meets quarterly to monitor progress on strategic projects

and every meeting includes a briefing on IMT project updates.

Appendix 1

IMT Priorities for 2017 as agreed by the Department’s IT Steering Committee

Project 2017 Priority

Direct Payments Systems

Deliver ICT functionality to support BPS and ANC schemes including new online functionality to facilitate the transfer of entitlements. Payments to issue to agreed timelines.

Deliver ICT functionality to support GLAS schemes including Commonage Management Plans and GLAS Training. Payments to issue to agreed timelines.

Deliver ICT functionality to support TAMS schemes including new Tillage scheme. Payments to issue on an on-going basis.

Deliver ICT functionality to support Knowledge Transfer schemes to include first payments under the schemes.

Deliver ICT functionality to support Organic Farming Schemes.

Deliver ICT functionality to support ANC scheme.

Deliver new Sheep Welfare Scheme including first payments under the scheme.

Deliver ICT functionality to support Beef Data and Genomics scheme.

Deliver ICT functionality to support AEOS schemes.

Deliver De Minimis schemes as required.

Publish Beneficiary details for 2016.

Fisheries Continue development work on the requirements arising from the Fisheries Control Regulation(s)

Implement the changes identified under ERS UN/CEFACT standardisation as required under EU Regulation/ Fishing Activity

Implement the changes identified under ERS UN/CEFACT standardisation as required under EU Regulation/ Sales Notes

Fleet Project- carry out analysis , document changes and plan for implementation in 2018

Work with DAFM Fisheries Divisions to

Complete the implementation of the requirements under National Quota

Progress the requirement of a Quota Balancing system

Introduce a generic system for the issue of authorisations ( SFPMD/MAPD)

Carry out amendments to the points system as requested


Animal Health and Welfare / Plant Health

Subject to decision by AHCS Management Board and/or IT Steering Committee, proceed with either of the following:

Class A Redevelopment

Complete outstanding Class A work requests (Cleansing and Disinfection, Killing Module etc).

Complete work on the integration of AHCS/AFIT in relation to post mortem data in meat plants (subject to development of post mortem module by AFIT). Complete work on non-Class A functionality as well as changes to system documents etc as approved and prioritised by Management Board. Change requests on hands or in the pipeline include the following:

BVD Automatic Restriction and De-restriction of herds

Improved controls for tests that are non-compliant with Advance Itinerary

Travelling Bull Permits

Automation of OFMV Tender price verification

Prevent scheduling of tests where no valid syringe cert held

Automate Weekly TB Stats Report

Provide ICT support and assistance to the Veterinary Public Health Regulatory Laboratory (VPHRL) on their electronic Document Control solution

IMT Co-ordination

Publish IT Strategy

Complete External Architecture Review, Create Blueprint for Dept Strategy

Review Documentation suite and toolset used for Project Management

Kick off Data Analytics project

Maintain ISO certification

IMT Operations and Technical Support

Continue to develop Disaster Recovery (DR) capabilities as per requirement set out in the DAFM Business Continuity Plans

Continue to maintain and deliver high quality stable and secure ICT operating systems and infrastructure to support the Department’s core business.

Build and support underlying ICT infrastructure for shared payroll application in co-operation with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and Department of Justice under a shared services agreement.

PC Support Infrastructure

Upgrade the desktop environment where appropriate. As part of the modernization programme, field staff will replace their desktops with ruggedized laptops with docking facilities.

Continue to provide Help Desk services 24x7

Continue to maintain and develop IT infrastructure support under the ICT shared services agreements with State Bodies (e.g. SFPA and DCCAE).

Substantially progress the upgrade the Department’s network infrastructure circa 220 sites across Ireland


Continue to support, maintain and build the data and voice telecommunications infrastructure for the Department, including continued rollout of IP telephony to all the remaining sites in scope

Continue to maintain and monitor the Department’s firewalls, intrusion detection systems, intrusion detection systems and associated routers and switches, including all resilience provisions in relation to the above.

Continue to maintain and develop IT infrastructure support under the shared services agreements with State Bodies, DCENR, D/PER and Department of the Taoiseach.

Continue to support, maintain and build the technical infrastructure that underpins the Department’s eGovernment services and Microsoft based server infrastructure.

Continue to provide, maintain and monitor email and access to internet services.

IT Security Unit (ITSU) and Cyber Security

Continue to maintain ISO27001 Information Security standard as mandated by the EU.

Continue to provide cyber and information security awareness to all DAFM staff.

Expand the remit of Cyber Security Unit within DAFM.

Liaise with the auditors (EU Certifying Body and Internal Audit Unit) in relation to IT audits and IT security matters and co-ordinate responses from IT areas with relation to audit findings.

Appendix 2

Some of the Department’s main ICT services and systems

Kevin Smyth, Assistant Secretary General

Office phone No: xxxxxxxxx

Mobile No: xxxxxxxxxxxxx


Division Head of Division Office No Mobile No

Finance Division Heber McMahon

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Accounts Division Colm McKiernan

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Internal Audit Unit Gordon Conroy

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Agricultural Appeals Office Angela Robinson

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FINANCE DIVISION

Head of Division: Heber McMahon, Principal Officer

Vote Overview 2017

The gross vote of the Department in 2017 will amount to €1,490m, comprising €1,230m in

current expenditure and €260m in capital expenditure including a carry-over of €21.7

million capital from the 2016 allocation. When appropriations in aid of €337m are taken

into account, the 2017 net vote is estimated at €1,153m.

In addition to the Voted Exchequer funds, the Department is responsible for distributing

€1.2bn in “non Voted” funds. These are 100% EU funded monies the bulk of which relate to

the Basic Payment Scheme.

Table 1 DAFM Financial Summary €m

2016 Gross Estimate 2017 Gross Estimate

Non-Voted 1,203 1,200

Voted 1,363 1,490

Current 1,134 1,230

Capital* 229 260

Total DAFM funding 2,566 2,690

*includes €12.0m capital savings carried over from 2015 into 2016 and €21.7.0m capital carried over from 2016 into 2017

The role of the Finance Unit is to manage the financial affairs of the Department. This

includes operating a system of financial delegation and monitoring, analysing and

reporting on expenditure of voted funds against agreed budgets and providing fund

management support to Divisions. It liaises, as required, with the Comptroller and

Auditor General. Finance Division is also responsible for coordinating and monitoring EU

Commission and Court of Auditor audits and preparing the EU Annual Account and

Statement of Assurance and all supporting reconciliations required for audit purposes

and to support Ireland’s status as an accredited paying agency. The Risk Management

System is maintained, monitored and managed by Finance Division.

Structure of Vote

The Vote is sub divided into 4 expenditure programmes corresponding to the 4 key Strategic

Objectives set out in the current Statement of Strategy (programmes A to D). The

programme allocation figures shown in table 2 includes the proportion of the Department’s

administrative budget to be spent in the delivery of each of the Programmes. If shown

separately, the DAFM Administrative Budget would be €239m of which €175m is pay and

€64m non pay

Table 2 Overview of Voted expenditure programmes A to D (€m all figs

rounded)

Title of Programme Main components 2016

Estimate

2016

Outturn

2017

Estimate

A Food Safety, Animal Health &

Welfare and Plant Health

Disease Eradication

Programmes and meat

inspection service

203.735 199.917 218.205

B Farmer Payment Schemes ANC, Forestry, Beef

Genomics, GLAS, TAMS,

Knowledge Transfer &

Sheep Welfare scheme.

696.506* 623.053 805.058*

C Policy and Strategy Programme Research and Grants to

Teagasc and Bord Bia

349.242 339.565 324.829

D Seafood Programme All fisheries/seafood

programmes and associated

agencies

113.619 94.480 141.854

Gross Vote 1,363.103 1,257.015 1,489.946

E Appropriations in Aid EU Receipts 306.441 453.150 337.088

Net Vote 1,056.662 803.865 1,152.858

*includes €12m capital savings carried over from 2015 and €21.7m carried from 2016.

The 10 largest 2017 programme allocations are;

1. GLAS (Green Low Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme) €214m

2. Areas of Natural Constraint ( formerly LFAs) €202m

3. Teagasc €129m, including €10.5m allocated for Training

4. Forestry €109m ( of which €21.7m is carried over from the DAFM 2016 voted

allocation)

5. Animal Health & Welfare €85m

6. Horse and Greyhound Fund €80 million, which by legislation is split 80%/20%

between Horse Racing and the Greyhound Racing bodies HRI and BnG.

7. Beef Data & Genomics Scheme allocated €52 million in 2016.

8. TAMs €49.9m

9. BIM €44m – this includes most of the funding for the Seafood Development

Programme

10. Knowledge Transfer €25.6m

Receipts

The Department’s budgeted total appropriations-in-aid for 2017 is €337m. EU funding

accounts for well over 80% of these. The bulk of the EU transfers arise under the Rural

Development Programme (RDP) 2014-2020 with the reminder relating to animal health

measures (veterinary fund co funding for BSE, TB etc), fisheries funds and some relatively

minor co-funding amounts relating to market support technical costs etc.

The balance of receipts relates to charges for inspection and certification services e.g.

inspection of meat and dairy premises, certification of live animal exports, laboratory

services etc (€32m) as well as pension levy deductions and other salary refund receipts

(€12m).

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Funding our Capital Requirements 2018-2021

The 2016 - 2021 Capital Plan published in September 2015 indicated that €1,257m of the

€27bn exchequer capital funding would be allocated to DAFM with €217m allocated for

2016 and then €208m for each year from 2017 onwards. The plan states that this allocation

to DAFM will be kept under review during the course of the Capital plan to ensure that all

programmes are fully implemented. For DAFM this commitment was considered vitally

important given that the main components of the capital expenditure programmes have

the potential to require a far greater amount than initially provided for in the Plan. In

recognition of the DAFM requirements the allocation for 2017 amounted to €238m (with an

additional carryover of €21.7m). Under the 2017 Expenditure Report, this figure of €238m is

the proposed sum to be allocated to the Department for 2018 and 2019 and will then

revert back to €208m for 2020.








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Annual Budgetary Process and new Fiscal Rules

The possibility for the exchequer to increase total voted funding through supplementary

estimates is severely reduced under the Fiscal Rules. Accordingly, where additional funds

are urgently needed by some Departments, it may result in pressure on other Departments

to hand up unused funds. Almost 40% of our programme expenditure scheduled for the last

11 weeks of the year and, in the event that other Departments require supplementaries late

in the year, the relatively late spend in the DAFM Vote might mark it out as a potential

donor if vitally required funds have to be sourced. Our payment timetable is largely due to

the 16th October being the earliest payment date for many EU co-funded schemes and the

necessity for various checks and inspections before spending can take place. As DAFM has

had substantial underspends in each of the last 2 years, we will be under particular scrutiny

this year.

EU Agriculture Funds

EU agricultural aid is payable from two separate EU Funds:

The European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF)

This includes expenditure under fully EU funded schemes, primarily the Basic Payment

Scheme (formerly the Single Payment Scheme). It also includes market support measures

such as export refunds and periodically, Aids to Private Storage (APS). DAFM paid approx.

€1.2 billion under the EAGF in 2016.

The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)

This includes expenditure for AEOS, GLAS, ANC’s, Early Retirement, Beef Data and Genomics

Programme, and Farm Improvement schemes. DAFM paid approx. €423 million under

EAFRD in 2016. Of this, EU funding amounts to just over €230 million. Management of

LEADER Schemes is delegated to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural &

Gaeltacht Affairs.

EU Audits

The various EAGF/EAFRD schemes are subject to regular audit by the European Commission

and the European Court of Auditors (ECA). The Commission can, on foot of audit findings,

impose financial penalties or disallowances on Member States. The penalties vary

depending on the nature of the findings but could involve a percentage penalty applied to

annual expenditure over a number of years under a scheme. On an ongoing basis, there is

engagement with the Commission Services in relation to audit findings on EU funded and

co-funded schemes.

Given the complexity of various EU Schemes and the timeframe over which they operate,

the aggregate performance of Member States over time is a useful indicator of how

schemes are being managed. In this respect, approximately 0.6% of total EU expenditure

has been disallowed in Ireland since 2004. This compares favourably with an EU average in

the region of 2.2%.

Accreditation

Payments under EAGF and EAFRD schemes may only be made by an “accredited” Paying

Agency, i.e. one that meets certain administrative and accounting criteria laid down in EU

Regulations. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is the accredited

Paying Agency in Ireland. By way of an Act of Accreditation the Minister is the Competent

Authority for accrediting the Paying Agency, while the Secretary General is the

Head/Director of the Paying Agency. Certain functions of the Paying Agency are delegated

to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural & Gaeltacht Affairs in respect of the

Leader measures managed by them which are funded by the EAFRD.

Finance Division is responsible the preparation of the EU Annual Account and Management

Declaration, for EAGF and EAFRD, within the timeframe set, with all supporting

reconciliations required for audit purposes and to maintain Ireland’s status as an accredited

paying agency.

EU funding mechanics

For EAFRD co-funded schemes, the total amount must be paid in the first instance from the

national exchequer through the DAFM vote; with the EU contribution reclaimed from the

Commission generally a quarter in arrears. When received the funds are recorded as

DAFM’s appropriation in aid and are not available to the Department for expenditure

purposes.

EU fully funded scheme’s such as the Basic Farm Payment must be paid in the first instance

by DAFM, and then re-claimed in full from the Commission. Off Vote borrowings through

the NTMA are used to front load payments to farmers. The interest charges applying to

those borrowings are funded on the vote.

The EMFF 2014-2020 (European Maritime & Fisheries Fund) provides EU funding of €147m

with a total budget of €239m Public. The EMFF Programme will support the general reform

of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and the development of its Integrated Maritime

Policy (IMP) in Ireland.

The Managing Authority for EMFF is Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

National Seafood Centre, Clonakilty, with BIM and Údarás na Gaeltachta being the main

implementing bodies. Finance Division is the Certification Body for EMFF expenditure and is

responsible for submitting claims and Annual Accounts.

A total of €30m Public expenditure with a corresponding EMFF contribution of €20m has

been recorded as eligible expenditure up to Dec 2016.

Central Procurement Unit

The Central Procurement Unit (CPU) oversees and monitors all aspects of Department

procurement including category management and procurement policy. It ensures that

procurement processes are implemented consistently throughout the Department in

accordance with procurement rules and guidelines and that Divisions are complying with

procurement rules with a view to ensuring that the Department achieves efficiencies and

obtains optimum value for money. It also liaises with the Office of Government

Procurement (OGP) and facilitates implementation of OGP policies and procedures in line

with Public Sector Reform of procurement. The CPU maintains an up-to date register of

contracts and monitors procurement expenditure to ensure that it is recorded accurately in

Accounts records.

The CPU, since its establishment in 2011, has worked with Divisions across every sector of

the Department to ensure that competitive processes are undertaken in accordance with EU

and national rules and, that specifications are drafted in a manner that minimises potential

risks of legal challenge while at the same time ensuring optimum efficiencies and value for

money are achieved. The CPU has also provided training to Divisions on procurement

requirements, has met with SMEs to discuss DAFM requirements and processes, and, due to

difficulties in accessing complete financial information on procurement categories and unit

costs, the CPU is rolling out a revised system to ensure specific procurement expenditure is

more readily identifiable through an accounting coding system and a central contracts

register on SAP.

The work undertaken by the CPU facilitated the roll out of public sector reform policies

following the setting up of the OGP and the Department has representatives on a number of

OGP Category Councils and Sourcing teams.

ACCOUNTS DIVISION

Head of Division: Colm McKiernan, Principal Officer

The Department’s Accounts Division is based in Cavan. It:

- Maintains the integrity of the Accounts and Corporate Customer Systems,

- Maintains the accounting records for all Departmental payments, receipts and other

financial transactions,

- Executes all payment and receipts transactions, including funding of the Department’s

payroll, travel and all staff related expenses,

- Operates the Travel Desk , organising flights abroad on official business,

- Compiles the Annual Appropriation Account and Fishery Harbour Fund Account,

- Monitors overpayments and debts due to the Department and is responsible for

recovery in relation to certain schemes,

- Recently took responsibility for asset management in the Department and

- Provides support for the On-Line Services portal, AgFood.ie

SAP Accounts System

The Department uses the SAP R/3 financial management system, the ISPS (Industry Solution

for the Public Sector) version, which caters for our specific national and EU accounting

requirements.

The role of Accounts Division is to process and maintain all appropriate accounting

records of the Department's financial transactions by executing all Department

payment and receipt transactions promptly and accurately, maintaining the integrity

of the Accounts and the Corporate Customer Systems, while also assessing and

managing changing business requirements and processes.

The SAP R/3 Accounts System fulfils the following critical functions:

it provides the basis for the generation of all payments emanating from the

Department, except for payroll and expenses, which are processed by the Shared

Services function but charged to the Department. In 2016 some 650,000 payments

totalling €2.432bn, issued through the SAP system,

it maintains the Department’s books of account,

it produces Statutory Reports for national and EU and CAP purposes,

it provides enhanced facilities to enable management to monitor and control

financial resources,

it provides reports for internal management purposes,

it provides an automated system for managing the Department’s purchasing

function,

it supports appropriate procedures for control and monitoring of finances,

it maintains appropriate audit trails,

it supports cash and accrual reporting,

it has a ‘netting functionality’ whereby overpayments can be offset against

payments due to a customer. In 2016, approximately €23.7m was recovered in

overpayments using this facility,

it has a Collections Management sub-module which was implemented in 2015 to

assist staff in their work on debt collection and monitoring,

it has an on-line portal with access to financial data available to all customers,

including scheme payment information for farmers.

Corporate Customer System

This system holds details of all the Department’s external customers, both financial & non

financial. Each customer record is validated and it holds details of all of the various roles and

business numbers that customer has with the Department. This customer data is used by

the other IT systems and can be accessed by all areas within the Department.

ISSUES

1. Preparation of the annual Fishery Harbour Centres Fund Account for 2016 is ongoing and

follow-up audit queries and findings by the C & AG audit team on the 2015 Account and

on the 2016 Appropriation Account, which was submitted at the end of March, are being

dealt with. The Fishery Harbour Centres Fund was the subject of a special report by the

C&AG in 2014 and the recommendations included in that report are being addressed on

an on-going basis.

2. On-line access to information on payments made by the Department

In April 2014 the Department’s online services for customers was extended to include a

new Financial Self-Services facility whereby customers can securely view their financial

transactions with the Department online. The service also includes the option for

customers to pay any monies due to the Department on-line, using a debit or credit card.

Over 84,600 farmers, who have access to the Department’s on-line services, now have

access to this Service. Accounts Division is examining ways of encouraging more farmers

to sign-up for this facility. It is planned to cease issuing paper remittance slips to farmers

who have on-line access to their payment details and thus reduce the costs associated

with printing and posting some 300,000 remittance slips to this group of farmers.

3. Shared Services

This Department moved responsibility for its payroll processing and payment of travel

expenses to the newly set up Payroll Shared Service Centre (PSSC) in November 2016.

Issues around ongoing control arrangements are being followed up with PSSC, in

conjunction with HR Division.

A Civil Service Financial Management Shared Services project is under way to move

the financial management functions of some 48 Department and Public Service bodies

to one financial management shared services system (FMSSS). This Department has

specific EU Accreditation requirements as a Paying Agency, unique EU financial

reporting requirements, and other sector-specific needs such as an EU Intervention

system. In view of the associated cost, effort and the obvious risks of replicating all of

these specific requirements in any new financial system, a final decision has not yet

been taken on whether to include or exclude this Department in the proposed shared

services project. The Request for Tender provided for the DAFM special requirements

to be considered separately and the decision on DAFM will be taken within two years

of award of the Contact. Should DAFM be included in the shared services project, it

will be one of the final Departments to move (current schedule is mid-2020).

INTERNAL AUDIT UNIT

Head of Division: Gordon Conroy, Principal Officer

The Internal Audit Unit has four distinct work areas:

Internal Audit

IT Audit

Scrutiny

Food and Feed Controls under Article 4.6 of Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004.

The Director of Internal Audit reports on a quarterly basis to the Audit Committee and

periodically to the Management Advisory Committee and to the Accreditation Review

Group. These reports include all aspects of the Unit’s work and key findings of the work

undertaken, as well as indicating progress against the annual plan. The Director of Internal

Audit has direct access to the Secretary General.

Role of the Audit Committee

The Audit Committee was established to advise the Secretary General on the internal audit

policies and the management of risk appropriate to the functioning of the Department. The

Charter of the Audit Committee sets out its role and terms of reference. The Committee has

three broad roles, namely:

To advise on the suitability and robustness of the Department’s internal control

systems;

to advise on the operation of the internal audit function within the Department

The primary role of the Internal Audit Unit (IAU) is to give assurance to the Secretary

General, the Audit Committee and senior management as to the adequacy of the

Department’s internal control systems.

to examine and monitor the implementation of the Department’s risk management

strategy.

Membership of the Audit Committee

The Committee is composed of external independent members (currently Mr Leo Martin,

(Chair), previously Group Chief Executive of the Heiton Group, Ms Dairine Walsh, a solicitor

who has held board positions with Johnson & Johnson and Dunnes Stores, Mr Aidan

Dunning, former Secretary General of the Department of Communications, Energy and

Natural Resources and Mr Jim O’Brien, former Second Secretary in the Department of

Finance), and a member of the Department’s Management Advisory Committee (MAC),

currently Mr Brendan Gleeson.

Operation of the Audit Committee

The Committee meets on a quarterly basis and receives reports, plans and other

information from the Internal Audit Unit. Presentations are also made at its meetings by

senior officials in the Department, the external Certifying Body and officials from the Office

of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Chairman of the Committee usually meets with

the Secretary General on one or two occasions during the year and attends one MAC

meeting. The Audit Committee publishes an Annual Report detailing the work of the Internal

Audit Unit and setting out priorities for the following year. The 2016 report will be published

shortly.

AGRICULTURE APPEALS OFFICE

Head of Division: Angela Robinson

The Agriculture Appeals Office is an independent Office providing an appeals service since

2002. The Agriculture Appeals Act 2001 and the Agriculture Appeals Regulations 2002, as

amended, set down the functions of the Director and the Appeals Officers, the decisions

that may be appealed (currently over 50 schemes) and the procedures to be followed in

respect of appeals. The Office is staffed by a Director, 11 Appeals Officers and 5

administrative support staff. Under the provisions of the Act, Appeals Officers are

independent in the performance of their functions.

Independence of Office

The Director and Appeals Officers have been assigned statutory functions to deliver an

independent appeals service.

The Office is located in its own dedicated, separate, building in Portlaoise.

Appeals Officers are appointed by the Minister and may be officials of the Department.

The Director is appointed from an open competition organised by the Public

Appointments Service.

The statistics below show the number of appeals received and allowed/partially

allowed/disallowed.

Number of Appeals

In 2016, a total of 598 appeals were received, a small increase on 2014. A total of 672 cases

were closed in the same period which included appeals outstanding from previous years.

The mission of the Agriculture Appeals Office is the provision of an independent,

accessible, fair and timely appeals service for scheme applicants under designated

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine schemes, and to deliver that service in

an efficient and courteous manner.

Appeal Outcomes

Of the appeals decided during 2016, a total of 41% of appeals were allowed, partially

allowed or revised by the Department and 45% were disallowed. The remaining 14% were

withdrawn or deemed to be invalid.

Oral hearings of appeals

One of the main features of the Appeals process is the right of an Appellant to an oral

hearing where an Appeals Officer brings the Appellant and the Department officials

together to hear both sides of a case and to ask questions. Oral hearings, chaired by the

Appeals Officer are private, informal and held in a location convenient to the appellant. In

some cases oral hearings are not requested. In 2016, a total of 319 oral hearings were held.

Appeal Decisions

Following consideration of all of the facts of a case, comprehensive decision letters are

issued to both the Appellant and the Department.

Reviews of appeals decisions by Director

The appellant (or Department) may request a review by the Director of a decision of an

Appeals Officer if the appellant (or Department) believes there was an error in fact or in law

on the part of the Appeals Officer. In 2016 the requests for Director reviews increased by

over 100% compared with the previous years with both the Department and appellants’

requests for reviews being twice the respective numbers in 2015. Legally, only the Director

may undertake such reviews. Due the complex and legal issues arising for cases, backlogs in

clearing appeals can arise. Appellants also have recourse to the Ombudsman and to the

High Court.

ISSUES

1. Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) Entitlements – change in appeal process

The Agriculture Appeals Act was amended to allow appeals against Department decisions on

BPS entitlements to be dealt with by the Agriculture Appeals Office instead of by a

Department committee. Since 1 January 2017 to date, the total number of appeals received

regarding Department decisions on entitlements was 75 of which 60 have been finalised.

2. New Appeal Process for Forestry licensing - felling, planting, aerial fertilisation

The recently commenced Forestry Act 2014 provides for a new statutory appeals committee

for Forestry Licensing/Consents for tree felling, planting and aerial fertilisation. Prior to the

commencement of the Forestry Act 2014, the Forest Service of the Department dealt with

appeals against Department decisions in respect of such licenses. The new appeal procedure

provides for an independent Forestry Appeals Committee to be established with an

independent Chairperson. It has been proposed that the Forestry Appeals Committee will

include Appeals Officers of the Agriculture Appeals Office. The Minister will be required to

establish the Committee and to appoint the Chairperson and Appeals Officers to the

Committee. The Agriculture Appeals Office will provide the required administrative support

to the Committee. Forestry Appeals Committee meetings will be held in Portlaoise.

3. Commitment under the Programme for a Partnership Government

There is a commitment in the Programme for Government that concerns the Agriculture

Appeals Act. The Commitment is as follows:

“We will review the Agriculture Appeals Act 2001 to ensure the independence and

efficiency of the office in dealing with appeals from farmers”

The Programme for Government also states that fairness and transparency must be at the

heart of the inspection and appeals process. The review has not yet commenced. Work is

currently underway for determining the arrangements for an appropriate assessment of the

current service and appropriate consultation methods before any changes to the Act would

be proposed.

4. Legal matters

In 2016, a ruling of a High Court case (Michael O'Connor -v- Minister for Agriculture, Food

and the Marine and the Appeals Officer) found against both the Department and the

Agriculture Appeals Officer who dealt with the appeal. This case is currently under appeal to

the higher Court of Appeal.

Documents

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT - Agriculture · CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT Vacancy Assistant Secretary General Management Services, Accommodation and ... Head of Division: Gráinne Mulligan, Principal