John Bruton
Question:46 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Finance the plans, if any, he has for the staff employed in the Office of the Tánaiste which the Government proposes to abolish. [13700/97]
Written Answers. - Departmental Staff.
The Office of the Tánaiste was disbanded in July. Following the termination of contracts of five political appointees on the change of Government, 16 staff remained. These were reassigned in the context of the wider redistribution of functions and responsibilities between Departments as follows: 13 of these, at levels from assistant secretary downwards, were assigned to the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation which assumed responsibility for the local development functions previously located in the Department of the Taoiseach, for the national drugs strategy team and for implementation of the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in the Border region; a principal and an assistant principal who had been performing to work in connection with freedom of information and ethics legislation were assigned to the Department of Finance and continue to work on those issues; an executive officer transferred to fill a vacancy in the Department of Justice in Galway.