Vol. 553 No. 5
380 Mr. O'Dowd asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the meetings which have taken place between his Department and other Departments regarding the assignment of new functions to his Department; and the results of these meetings regarding the allocation of resources, personnel and work. [14727/02]
The Deputy will be aware that the following Transfer of Functions Orders have been made: Rural Development (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002, Community Application of Information Technology (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002 and Local Development and National Drugs Strategy (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2002. These orders, as their titles imply, transfer a range of functions to my Department. I understand that the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the Department of the Environment and Local Government are currently working on draft orders that will, when signed, transfer further functions from these Departments to mine. Meanwhile, there has been a series of meetings and discussions between my Department and all the other relevant Departments regarding the allocation of staffing, resources and the detail of the work associated with the implementation of these functions, which are still ongoing and, while good progress has been made, the details have not yet been finalised.
