Vol. 435 No. 5
45 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the reason he has employed independent consultants in his Department instead of working with the full-time staff from the Office of Public Works; the status of such consultants in relation to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
46 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the reason he has employed independent consultants in his Department instead of working with the full-time staff from the Office of Public Works; the reason such consultants are being employed; and the status of such consultants in relation to his Department.
I will take Questions Nos. 45 and 46 together.
I presume that the Deputies are referring to the Heritage Policy Unit of my Department for which I propose to engage some technical staff.
The technical staff of the Office of Public Works are fully employed on the implementation of policy and, following consultation with the Minister for Finance, I intend to engage, on a contract basis, personnel for policy formulation purposes.
