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Profile: Justice Minister Helen McEntee TD
Minister for Justice: Helen McEntee TD
A familar face in the halls of Leinster House since 2010 and a TD since 2013. Helen McEntee’s appointment as Minister for Justice is her first major ministerial portfolio in her seven-year parliamentary career.
McEntee has been a fixture within Leinster House since she began work as the personal assistant of her father, Shane McEntee, in 2010. The elder McEntee was at the time serving Fine Gael TD for Meath East and upon Fine Gael’s 2011 election win was named Minister of State for Food, Horticulture and Food Safety. She was first elected as a TD in 2013.
McEntee was returned in the Meath East constituency in the 2020 General Election, as the only Fine Gael TD in the three-seat constituency. Darren O’Rourke of Sinn Féin topped the poll with 24.4 per cent of first preference votes and was elected on the second count, displacing incumbent Regina Doherty. Despite the dip in her party’s popularity in the constituency, McEntee actually increased her first preference vote share from 2016, claiming 18.5 per cent, an increase on her 2016 showing of 18.3 per cent, with Doherty bearing the brunt of the constituency’s turn against Fine Gael, collecting just 10 per cent of first preference votes. Following the elimination of the Doherty, McEntee was comfortably elected on the former’s transfers on the seventh count, with fellow incumbent and now partner-ingovernment Thomas Byrne of Fianna Fáil also deemed elected on the same count.
Once agreement had been reached between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party to form a tri-party coalition government, McEntee was appointed Minister for Justice by new Taoiseach Micheál Martin, making her one of four female ministers in the 32nd Government of Ireland. The appointment also made McEntee the fourth female Minister for Justice in the history of the State, following Máire Geoghegan-Quinn of Fianna Fáil and Nora Owen and Frances Fitzgerald of Fine Gael.
Since the appointment, McEntee has had to deal with the challenges of Covid-19 has thrown up like all ministers. In McEntee’s case, this has mainly concerned the enforcement powers given to Gardaí around Covid regulations and the penalties associated with their breachings.
Other moves made in her fledgling tenure so far include steps towards the modernisation and reform of the Irish family law court system. The Minister was given approval by the Cabinet in September for the drafting of a Family Court Bill that will see the establishment of a District Family Court, a Circuit Family Court and a Family High Court as divisions within existing court structures. The move would also see the creation of principal judge positions within each of these new courts. The Minister said: “The development of sensible, comprehensive and sensitive family law procedures, particularly for vulnerable families, will be central to the new system.”
One of the more notable legislative changes on McEntee’s agenda is the Dying with Dignity Bill, the bill sponsored by People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny that would legalise assisted dying in Ireland. McEntee told a Dáil debate that assisted dying is a complex issue with a myriad of ethical, moral medical, criminal justice and constitutional issues attached to it that would require further scrutiny, with the Government proposing that a committee be set up to examine the issue over the next 12 months.
For McEntee and her government, that 12 months will be crucial for other reasons, as they seek to overcome a Covid- and confusion-scarred start to begin to implement their legislative programme. With a record justice budget of €3 billion at disposal, McEntee’s focus will be on the recruitment of extra Gardaí and Garda
staff, the modernisation of the sector’s digital infrastructure and the implementation of recommendations made by the O’Malley Report on Protections for Vulnerable Witnesses in the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Offences.
Announced measures for the record budget so far include:
up to 620 new Gardaí and 500 Garda staff, as part of efforts to return Gardaí to frontline duties;
€42 million to modernise the justice sector through increased digital and ICT investment, including €8 million for the Courts Modernisation Programme and €5 million for the Department of Justice ICT strategy;
€27 million for Covid-related measures;
€10 million in capital expenditure and €4.4 million in current expenditure for Forensic Science Ireland;
€2.7 million in increased funding to combat domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, as well as support for victims;
an extra €2 million to fund additional staffing for the Data Protection Commission and help it achieve its goal of having well in excess of 200 staff by the end of 2021; and
an overall increase of €147 million in current expenditure and €51 million capital funding in the justice sector, bringing the total justice increase for Budget 2021 to almost €200 million.
Electoral history
Following the death of her father in December 2012, McEntee contested the 2013 by-election to fill his vacant seat and was elected on the third count, defeating Thomas Byrne, the Fianna Fáil TD who had lost his seat in 2011 but would go on to regain it in 2016 and now serves in the same government as McEntee, and Darren O’Rourke, now a Sinn Féin TD for Meath East. McEntee’s win was the first by-election win for Fine Gael while in government since Enda Kenny had succeeded his father in 1975. Her election at the age of 26 made McEntee the second youngest TD in the Dáil at the time, older only than
Helen McEntee TD with Paulo Rangel of the EPP.
Simon Harris, and the youngest female TD.
She received a standing ovation on her entrance into the Dáil and gave her maiden speech in May 2013 and was subsequently appointed to the Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications and the Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht. Following a random audit of 22 members of the Oireachtas in 2014, McEntee was ordered to repay €1,675 in claimed expenses that had been deemed ineligible. McEntee attributed this to “human error”.
Following the election, McEntee voiced support for the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil coalition that had been mooted, claiming that it would be a “seismic change in the political landscape”, but the idea was rejected by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael instead formed a minority government with independent TDs that was guaranteed by a confidence and supply agreement with Fianna Fáil. McEntee was appointed Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, one of 18 junior ministerial roles in the Government, making her one of four women holding such a position at the time.
Following the succession of Enda Kenny as Taoiseach by Leo Varadkar, McEntee was appointed as Minister of State for European Affairs, a role which saw her given a position within the ongoing Brexit talks between the EU and the UK. In 2019, she called on the British Government to honour their commitments with regard to the Irish backstop. McEntee argued that the backstop was necessary in order to avoid a hard border in Ireland and protect the peace process because of the UK Government’s “red lines” on leaving the European single market and customs union. Later in 2019, McEntee was elected Vice-President of the European People’s Party, Fine Gael’s European party group, at their conference in Zagreb.
As government, society and business grapple with the impact of Covid-19, the need to deliver sustained transformation in the justice sector has never been clearer, writes Shane Mohan, National Government and Public Services Leader, Deloitte.
Change in a justice sector is hard, constituent organisations are typically steeped in years of history; they are (often for good reason) highly procedural; have operational mandates that challenge longer term strategic thinking; are subject to high levels of public scrutiny; and operate within substantive legislative and governance frameworks.
Nevertheless, most organisations across the Irish justice sector have recognised the need for change, and for a variety of reasons have embarked on significant transformation and modernisation programmes. Some of these have started by addressing organisational and governance layers. But it is critical that (a) change goes much deeper than just structure; (b) is seen as part of a continuous evolution; and (c) is coordinated with other programmes across the justice sector and broader Irish public service.
Delivering lasting change
Globally, many justice sector organisations still largely operate based on in-person interactions, manual processes, dated technology and poor quality data. These structures, systems and processes are not fit for the new service models demanded by citizens, businesses and other stakeholders.
At Deloitte, when we support our clients through transformation journeys we consider the whole organisation and how it operates, the services it delivers, the users and stakeholders, its business processes, the channels it uses (for example, face to face, online, etc.), the organisation structure, locations, its people, technology and data. It is only through addressing every one of these layers that lasting change can be delivered. This takes time, perseverance and energy from leaders and their teams. Fatigue can set in or resistance develop, but is exactly at these times leaders need to hold their nerve, be clear on the journey and see the change through.
Planning for continuous evolution
Across public services it is increasingly clear that change is now continuous, some of this is predictable as services adopt to citizen needs and preference such as digital delivery; others less so such as major economic, social and health events.
In the justice sector, specifically, there is continuous change across the criminal, civil and commercial spectrums ranging from international terrorism and organised crime; increased financial, economic and cyber-crime; and evolution in society’s expectations around equality, justice and personal freedoms.
Therefore, change may start with a large transformation programme, but it is critical that leaders understand that their organisation and the sector in which they operate will continue to face new challenges on an ongoing basis. Hence, the need to build lasting capabilities and a flexible and adaptive mind-set in leaders at all levels is critical.
Taking a sector wide view
It is increasingly clear that transformation of public services requires coordination across many agencies. Sector wide transformation,
particularly in a complex stakeholder environment such as Justice, requires a systemic approach that steps beyond the boundaries of individual agencies, Departments and service providers. This covers everything from alignment on policy and purpose, a shared view of service user needs and expectations, consistent systems and processes, and appropriate sharing of data. There are many examples of where this has been done locally and internationally, but this integration must be delivered at scale.
Additionally, it is not just public service bodies that have to be considered. The response to Covid-19 has shown the power of public sector organisations working collaboratively with the education sector, NGOs, industry and others to create innovative solutions at pace.
Key tips for sustained transformation
Based on a breadth of research undertaken by Deloitte, and practical experience of working with many justice sector and other public service organisations on their transformation journeys, there are a number of trends that we would highlight as being important considerations:
Design around the user: Both within and across agencies it is critical that the service users are at the heart of transformation programme. Understanding their needs and expectations, and how and when they wish to engage is critical. Of course, in a justice setting not everything is at the user’s discretion! However, the reality is that even in a police or courts context the vast majority of interactions are where citizens are looking for advice, support and information; or to access a particular service.
Workforce capabilities: Public service organisations today are increasingly moving from simplistic resourcing models to much more sophisticated and continuous workforce planning which identifies the skills, capabilities and capacity that the organisation needs and how, when and where that needs to be deployed to meet varying service and operational demands.
Technology and digital
infrastructure: Covid-19 has shown the importance of a digitally enabled workforce and the ability for citizens to access services through multiple online channels. Of course, this has been the trend for many years where citizens, reflecting how we operate in other areas of our lives, expect our public services to be similarly available. Interoperability across agencies and the ability to share data are other critical considerations. To meet these needs almost every justice sector organisation has had to invest heavily in its technology infrastructure.
Data management, access,
sharing and privacy: Are long standing challenges, along with the ability to turn available data into useful information to inform management decision making. Additionally, Governments are seeking to become ‘anticipatory’, building deeper capabilities in modelling and predictive analytics so that they can better prepare for everything from changing operational needs to large-scale crises, rather than just reacting to them.
Ecosystems and alliances:
Businesses, universities, research labs and other stakeholders can contribute the capacity and capability that exponentially increases government’s ability to deliver better services, respond to changing events or mitigate a crisis. Governments need to embrace this opportunity but in a transparent manner.
Covid-19 is the trigger that will fundamentally change government across the world, and force many to fundamentally reimagine how public services are delivered. It is a global pandemic layered upon years of economic, social, demographic and technological change that is accelerating all the time. These and other major issues, from Brexit to immigration and the growth of extremism, have had and will continue to have a profound impact on our justice sector and the agencies within it. However, this context provides the opportunity and momentum for sustainable, integrated change across the sector.
Shane Mohan, National Government and Public Services Leader T: +353 1 417 2543 E: smohan@deloitte.ie W: www.deloitte.ie
Credit: Department of Justice
Justice in brief
Minister of State for Law Reform James Browne TD and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD.
The formation of the new coalition Government has injected fresh impetus into the ambitions under the auspices of the Department of Justice and Equality. eolas examines current justice policy priorities across the Civil Justice and Equality and the Criminal Justice pillars.
Helen McEntee TD succeeded Charlie Flanagan TD as Minister for Justice in June 2020. McEntee is only the fourth female to be appointed to the office in the history of the State, her female predecessors being Máire Geoghehan Quinn, Nora Owen and Frances Fitzgerald. Bodies within the policy remit of McEntee’s department are An Garda Síochána, the Courts Service, the Irish Prison Service, policing oversight bodies and others ranging from the Irish Film Classification Office to the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and from the Probation Service to the Office of the State Pathologist.
Within such broad responsibilities, Minister McEntee has settled on Garda Reform, domestic violence and the modernisation of IT facilities as her fundamental priorities. This mirrors the Building Stronger and Safer Communities mission within the Programme for Government (PfG), with which, for instance, the tri-party coalition has committed to ensuring that community policing will be “a key part of our Social Contract with Citizens and will place it at the centre of policing policy”.
Other headline PfG commitments include curbing corruption and whitecollar crime, implementing courts reform, tackling anti-social behaviour, undertaking prison and penal reform, addressing hate crime, confronting domestic and sexual violence; supporting victims of crime; ensuring online safety; and protecting Ireland’s cybersecurity.
In autumn 2019, the Department of Justice underwent fundamental restructuring and is now aligned under dual pillars, Civil Justice and Equality and Criminal Justice, each with their own Deputy Secretary General. Oonagh Buckley occupies the Civil Justice and Equality position while there is a vacancy in Criminal Justice after Oonagh McPhillips replaced Aidan O’Driscoll as Secretary General of the Department. Each pillar has policy, legislation, governance and operations and service delivery functions.
The briefing document prepared for Justice Minister Helen McEntee by Department of Justice and Equality officials upon her appointment outlines the current priorities of each pillar.
Civil Justice and Equality pillar
The first priority of the Civil Justice and Equality pillar is to collaborate with the
International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) and Immigration Service Delivery (ISD) to develop “evidence-based and strategic polices” for migration, immigration and international protection.
The second priority is to formulate a strategy and develop evidence-based policies to support the Courts Service in digitally improving access to civil justice and courts reform as per the report of the group chaired by the former President of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly.
Other priorities include:
beginning to establish new organisations arising from priority legislation;
fulfilling international reporting obligations on disability, human rights and gender;
embedding the Judicial Council;
supporting the performance of civil justice sector agencies;
concluding the Magdalen Restorative Justice Scheme; and
resettling 650 refugees in Ireland, including 100 people through the Community Sponsorship Programme.
The briefing document highlights seven pieces of legislation to be progressed, including “legislation to assist courts in managing the effects of Covid-19” and Property Services Regulation (Amendment) and related European Pre-Infringement Proceedings. The five others are also listed in the Programme for Government are:
the implementation and amendment legislation for Assisted DecisionMaking (Capacity) Act 2015;
a Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill;
the enaction of a Family Court Bill;
the enaction of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill; and
a Courts and Civil Liability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.
Within Immigration Service Delivery specifically, priorities include minimising the risks associated with Covid-19 in Direct Provision centres and Emergency Reception and Orientation Centres (EROCs); investing in people and systems and updating policies to meet
Credit: Michael Foley
service demand; and implementing the recommendations of the Advisory Group on Direct Provision and an Interdepartmental Group.
Criminal Justice pillar
Within the criminal justice pillar, there are four major spheres of focus.
1.
2.
Garda reform: The second iteration of the four-year plan, ‘A Policing Service for the Future: Implementing the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland’, incorporates a significant number of projects. These include a Policing and Community Safety Bill; a body-worn camera Bill; a Garda Powers Bill; and the discarding of non-core functions.
Brexit: Criminal justice priorities relating to Brexit include: data protection; extradition; Schengen Information System II; Passenger Name Recognition and the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS).
3.
4.
Security: Security priorities include: the development of “strategic policies and legislation to enhance capability”; developing north-south cooperation “in combatting terrorist activity”; and establishing institutions to address the legacy of ‘the Troubles’.
Criminal courts: In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, a Department priority is to collaborate with the judiciary and the Courts Service to determine measures to safeguard criminal trials through public health restrictions and
explore alternatives to prosecution for minor offences.
There are also a number of major capital projects within the criminal justice sphere either ongoing or not yet commenced. These are:
a new Forensic Science Ireland laboratory facility in Backweston, County Kildare which is expected be completed in 2021/2022;
the relocation of Dublin Metropolitan Region HQ from Harcourt Square to Military Road which is expected to be completed in 2022;
the redevelopment of Limerick Prison which is due for completion in 2021;
the ongoing Garda ICT programme; and
a Garda PPP bundle which includes new stations at Macroom, County Cork and Clonmel, County Tipperary.
Additional criminal justice priorities for the Department include responding to forthcoming and published reports, particularly implementing the findings of the O’Malley Review of Protections for Vulnerable Witnesses in the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Offences; implementing the Parole Act 2019 and establishing an independent statutory Parole Board; and progressing the legislative programme which incorporates measures facilitating increased use of video link; EU transposition; Garda reform; a Criminal Procedure Bill; and hate crime legislation.
Keeping courts and court services open and safe during the ongoing pandemic
Chief Executive of the Courts Service, Angela Denning, discusses how the recognised need for modernisation has been accelerated in response to the pandemic.
The outbreak of the pandemic presented major challenges for the public-facing and traditional nature of the Courts Service, explains Denning, who rejoined in 2019 to lead on the 10-year modernisation programme.
The significance of any changes to the traditional model delivery can be recognised in appreciating the reach of the Courts Service. Operating with almost 1,100 staff, who support 176 judges, the Courts Service look after the affairs of more than 2,700 wards of court, the most vulnerable citizens in society. Additionally, in 2019 the Courts Service processed approximately 678,000 civil and criminal matters and dealt with some 17,000 applications for probate.
This reach was recognised by the Courts Service who, prior to the pandemic, initiated a modernisation programme on the back of a capability review carried out by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER), as well as contributions to the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality from members of the Judiciary, Law Society, Bar Council, members of the public and advocacy groups, which all demanded reform of the courts.
Explaining the need for reform, Denning says: “We hadn't kept pace with digital change and couldn't provide the digital solutions and services being demanded by users and the ultimate goal of our modernisation programme is to streamline our services to make them quicker, easier for users and more cost efficient and effective.
“The traditional model of the courts meant that it had time consuming processes that were cumbersome, technical and inefficient for users. In that respect we were genuinely surprised when Covid-19 hit how innovative our staff, the Judiciary and participants right across the system were in delivering necessary change and at such pace.”
Setting out the primary focus of ensuring the courts stayed open and the significance of this, Denning states: “There is no point in having a constitution if you can’t access the courts in order to uphold your rights under that constitution.”
The major challenge was the pace at which decisions had to be made to keep the doors open and ensure people were safe, explains Denning, who quickly ensured that any staff could work from home did so to ensure additional space for those required to be on site.
“We took a whole-of-organisation approach to that mobilisation, splitting up teams and introducing Saturday working in some Dublin offices. Additionally, the Courts Service organised drop boxes where possible to reduce the number of people entering court buildings and initiating appointment-only access to court offices.”
Process adaptation was required under new restrictions. Denning explains that following an assessment of the Courts Service’s whole estate, in many cases, existing court houses weren’t big enough to stage jury trials and the requirement for innovation was realised.
The Chief Executive explains that not all of the innovation identified has been ground-breaking. Greater collaboration between the Judiciary and the Courts Service has facilitated regular meetings on progress around the likes of remote courts and alternative venues. Similarly, the establishment of a Covid-19 response team saw a shift and improvement of communications.
Communication
“We moved to Twitter immediately as a
means to communicate with our users, recognising it as the best method to deliver just-in-time information. We also adopted a more structured approach to communications, recognising the need for all of our stakeholders to receive messaging in a consistent manner.”
Denning reached out to external stakeholders and established a weekly meeting whereby she could brief them in advance and that information could then be dispersed to their membership through their own established mechanisms of communication.
Denning adds: “We also built on our relationship with the Department of Justice. As soon as the new Government was formed, we had legislation in place to assist us, for videolinks to prisons, for example. We also worked closely with the Department on the ‘Still Here’ campaign, a whole-ofGovernment campaign where different organisations worked to let victims of domestic violence know that facilities were still available to them if needed.”
Highlighting how coordination and collaboration has helped accelerate modernisation and the major changes that have been brought about, Denning says that the primary challenge was managing footfall. “The days where large numbers gathered in a courthouse in the morning and working through the list are not suitable for a pandemic,” she states, explaining that the Courts Service have now introduced staggered lists and attendances at courthouses.
In relation to maintenance payments, Denning says the Courts Service made efforts to remove as many manual collections of maintenance payments from the court offices as possible and to switch to EFT.
Collaboration
One of the most innovative changes delivered at pace has been the establishment of videolinks to prisons, for courts. Hailing that the number of videolinks to prisons have more than doubled in response to Covid compared to 2019, Denning adds: “From the outset the serious implications of, Covid-19 getting in to the prison system were recognised. We spoke to the Judiciary and as a result we've had over 6,000 videolinks. That’s not only increased safety for all involved but brought about greater efficiencies in that prison officers
usually needed to transport prisoners to court are now freed up to deal with the isolation space when new prisoners are brought in.”
Technology has also been an enabler of change, says Denning, pointing to the Courts Services use of Sharefile, software that had to be introduced to allow practitioners to upload documents to be viewed by Judges online, where previously they were transported in hard copy. Another enabling technology for the Courts Service is the use of iAuditor, an app being introduced to allow for checks on protective measure supports, such as hand sanitiser availability and accurate signage, accounted for in real time and therefore dealt with more efficiently than the paper-based legacy system.
However, Denning is clear that the most significant change has been the introduction of remote courts, which she says she could not have envisaged that, when she took the job of CEO just over one year ago, they would be operational within the year. “Our IT estate had suffered from underinvestment over the years but in very quick time we were able to repurpose existing technology at no additional cost and to date we’ve had over 1,000 remote court sessions, which have been recognised as a significant way forward by all involved.”
Outlining the scale of modernisation that has occurred in recent months, Denning says: “I think we’ve come a couple of hundred years in a few months. We have learnt a lot and have much to take with us into the future.”
In hoping to continue the modernisation at pace and build on current momentum, Denning and the Probate team have also recently supported Revenue’s move of the tax aspects of probate online and the new eLicensing system, which can facilitate fee waivers and central processing of refunds, in support of the Governments change in policy on liquor licensing. Additionally, The Department of Justice have introduced new legislation to enable increased use of remote courts and videolinks including facilitating a switch from sworn affidavits to sworn statements of truth for online use.
Looking to the future, Denning says that the Courts Service vision is to combine the lessons learnt from the pandemic response with ambitions for further modernisation. “We’ve learned an awful lot in recent months about our culture, the dedication of our staff, motivating factors for staff and court users and about the levels of change we can deliver when working cohesively.
“We want to build on that culture shift that we’ve seen across the professions and continue to be open to new ideas and learning,” concludes Denning.
For more information on the Courts Service visit www.courts.ie
