Minister for Justice to tell Cabinet preferred candidate for next Garda Commissioner
Garda
Commissioner is set to be confirmed after the Cabinet meets on Tuesday.
Minister for Justice
Jim O'Callaghan
is expected to recommend a candidate who has emerged from the recent recruitment process to replace the current commissioner,
Drew Harris
.
Mr Harris, who was first appointed in 2018, will continue in the role until September 1st.
The Irish Times reported last week that, according to sources, the number of senior Garda officers who applied for the commissioner's job was relatively low. The post was advertised in May and carries a salary of at least €314,000.
READ MORE
However, both serving deputy commissioners, Justin Kelly and Shawna Coxon, are believed to have applied.
Separately, Minister for Energy
Darragh O'Brien
is to brief colleagues on the issuing of letters to the boards of
EirGrid
and the
ESB
on the
Government
's approval of up to €3.5 billion additional investment in electricity infrastructure as part of the
National Development Plan
.
The investment is split into €2 billion for EirGrid, to support the financing of the offshore electricity grid, and €1.5 billion for ESB to support the onshore grid.
Mr O'Brien will also brief Ministers on the summary of draft legislation to support the development of forestry 'corridors' for the electricity network.
This come after the damage and disruption caused by
Storm Éowyn
in January, which exposed the vulnerability of parts of the electricity network to fallen trees.
The goal of the Bill is to outline a statutory regime for the development of forestry corridors, including additional vegetation management powers for
ESB Networks
and to provide for regulations on the dimensions and conditions of corridors.
The draft legislation follows consultation with the departments of agriculture and housing, forestry organisation
Coillte
and ESB Networks.
Consultation with forestry and landowners will take place during the drafting of the final legislation.
The Cabinet will also be updated by Minister for Social Protection
Dara Calleary
on the planned introduction of the Government's
pensions
auto-enrolment scheme – My Future Fund – from next January 1st.
A chief executive for the
National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority
will be announced shortly along with board members.
Under the scheme all employees aged between 23 and 60 earning more than €20,000 per year and who are not paying into a pension scheme will be automatically enrolled into My Future Fund.
Minister for Housing
James Browne
will brief colleagues on 2023 statistics from local authorities and other State bodies on the percentage of their employees who have a disability.
In 2023, public-sector bodies were set a minimum target of having people with disabilities make up 3 per cent of their workforce.
All but one of the 31 local authorities and 14 other public bodies under the aegis of the
Department of Housing
met the 3 per cent target. In 2023, 33 bodies had already reached the 2024 target of 4.5 per cent, including 18 bodies that had already met a 6 per cent target to be achieved by 2025.
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