The mission of the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government (OPC) is to draft Bills on behalf of the Government, and statutory instruments on behalf of the Government and Ministers of the Government, to a consistently high standard.
The Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government comprises a team of specialist lawyers trained to a high level in the discipline of drafting legislation. The Office is a constituent part of the Office of the Attorney General and is located in Upper Merrion Street, Dublin 2.
The functions of the OPC are to -
A Minister of the Government who wishes to bring forward legislation must, in accordance with requirements set out in the Cabinet Handbook, obtain a Government decision authorising the drafting of that legislation. When a decision is obtained the Minister concerned will request the Attorney General to arrange for the drafting of a Bill. The request will then be sent to the Group Manager in the OPC whose group deals with requests from the Department for which the Minister has responsibility. The Group Manager will then assign a Parliamentary Counsel to draft the Bill.
The function of Parliamentary Counsel is to transpose the policy of the Department into a draft Bill which is expressed in clear and precise terms. During the drafting process legal issues can arise which may involve Parliamentary Counsel seeking the advice of another lawyer (known as an Advisory Counsel) in the Office of the Attorney General whose specific function it is to give legal advice to Government Departments. Parliamentary Counsel may also have to consult with the Attorney General from time to time during the drafting process. When the Department and the Office are satisfied with the draft Bill, and all legal and outstanding policy issues have been resolved, the Parliamentary Counsel assigned to draft the Bill will transmit the final draft to the Department. The Minister will then present the Bill to Cabinet for a decision to publish the Bill. Parliamentary Counsel also draft all Government amendments that are moved at Committee or Report Stage during the passage of the Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The head of the OPC is the Chief Parliamentary Counsel who has overall responsibility for the legislative drafting services provided by the OPC. The OPC is divided into 3 groups, each headed by a Group Manager who is not lower than Parliamentary Counsel rank. The Group Managers report to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel. Each group has responsibility for providing drafting services to specific Government Departments. Each Group Manager is responsible for managing the provision of drafting services to Government Departments by the group of which he or she is head. The Chief Parliamentary Counsel is responsible for the allocation of personnel to each drafting group.
The following are the grades of permanent Parliamentary Counsel: Chief Parliamentary Counsel, First Parliamentary Counsel, Parliamentary Counsel, Assistant Parliamentary Counsel I, Assistant Parliamentary Counsel II.
The Government Legislation Committee (GLC) is chaired by the Government Chief Whip and its members include the Attorney General, the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, the Programme Managers of the main parties in Government, the Leader of Seanad Éireann (Upper House of the Irish Parliament) and representatives of the Department of the Taoiseach and the OPC.
The OPC works closely with the GLC in ensuring that the Government Legislation Programme is implemented. The function of the GLC is to assist the Government in fixing legislative priorities for the forthcoming Parliamentary session and to oversee the implementation of the Government legislation programme. It does this by making recommendations to the Government in relation to the level of priority that should be accorded to the drafting of each Bill (the drafting of which has been authorised by Government) and by anticipating blockages that might occur in the system and recommending appropriate action to avoid delays in the drafting process.
Before the commencement of each Dáil session the Government publishes a press release which sets out its legislative priorities for that session. The GLC is involved in preparing the draft press release. The draft press release is circulated among Ministers before the Chairperson of the GLC seeks Government approval for its publication. At this stage Ministers may indicate their legislative priorities for the forthcoming Dáil session. The legislative priorities set out in the press release determine the work programme for the OPC for the Dáil session concerned.
The GLC provides a vital mechanism of mediation in respect of the competing claims of Departments for the services of Parliamentary Counsel.
The first Parliamentary Draftsman, Arthur Matheson, was appointed prior to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 and worked to the Law Officer of the Irish Provisional Government. When the Law Officer of the Provisional Government became the Attorney General, the Office of the Parliamentary Draftsman remained with him. The services of the Parliamentary Draftsman were formally assigned to the Attorney General by section 6 of, and the Ninth Schedule to, the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924. In September 2000 the name of the Office was changed from the Office of the Parliamentary Draftsman to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government.