Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to get more staff to address workload

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee confirmed that funding for an additional 20 staff in 2024 has been allocated.

Extra staff are being allocated to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions amid concerns about a growing workload at the office.

Funding has been provided for an additional 20 staff to be hired in 2024, following the recruitment of 40 staff at the office in the past year. 

According to the DPP’s most recent annual report, there were 234 staff in the office at the end of 2022.

In reply to a recent parliamentary question by Fine Gael TD Colm Burke, the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee confirmed that funding for an additional 20 staff in 2024 has been allocated to the office “in response to increased demand-led pressures across the prosecution system”.

Last May, it emerged that a letter from the Office of the DPP was sent to the Department of Public Expenditure to highlight concerns about resources for the office.

The correspondence outlined several key areas which had seen an increase in demands on the office, including an 820% increase in cases relating to financial crime and fraud, which was described as "resource-intensive case work", requiring teams of legal staff.

An increase in sexual offence cases being brought to the office was also raised in the correspondence.

In November, Minister Hildegarde Naughton told a debate in the Dáil that more than 17,300 files were received by the DPP’s office in 2022, seeking a direction regarding whether or not a prosecution should follow.

This, she said, reflected a 28% increase over the five years since 2017.

She continued: “On an international front, there has been a 77% increase in requests for mutual legal assistance from other countries. In addition, there has been an exponential growth in the level of data and complexity routinely involved in a range of different offence types, including sexual offences, theft and fraud offences and organised crime which requires teams of legal staff for each case.” 

Colm Burke, who is a TD for Cork North Central, said that the resource issues in the DPP’s office can have an impact on grieving families whose loved ones died in road accidents or industrial accidents.

He said there is a need for the Department of Public Expenditure to “review the current allocation to the DPP’s office in view of the fact that there are delays in dealing with cases, and as a result, inquests cannot be held until the DPP’s office has made a decision on whether a prosecution will follow”.

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Inquests into deaths which are the subject of investigations by An Garda Siochana or the HSA cannot proceed until any prosecution is dealt with, or until after a decision is made that a prosecution is not warranted.

Minister McEntee, in her response to Mr Burke, said: “Adjournments are often granted where there is a criminal investigation/prosecution ongoing into the events leading to the death. This ensures that the integrity of the criminal investigation and the fairness of any subsequent criminal trial is not negatively impacted.”