The chaos in the office of the Chief State Solicitor was best exemplified by the Nora Wall case last year, the Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr Jim Higgins, said. The junior counsel forgot to tell the senior counsel certain information, the solicitor in court was not the solicitor who prepared the book of evidence, the principal officer was on holiday and the Garda had forgotten to "tick-tack" with the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, asked if the office could have a greater degree of operational autonomy, like the National Treasury Management Agency.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said the Nally commission had made recommendations similar to Mr Quinn's. One the Government accepted was to transfer responsibility for the office from the Attorney General to the DPP. He said the industrial dispute in the office was causing problems. No assistant solicitor in a recruitment grade had more than 2 1/2 years' experience. The first promotional grade, after two years, carried a salary of £31,000 to almost £39,000 - not too bad for young people.