Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 3 Oct 2000

Vol. 523 No. 1

Written Answers. - Departmental Correspondence.

Noel Ahern

Question:

288 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the procedure, system and resources used in his Department for replying to correspondence from Members of the Oireachtas; the staff numbers involved; if the numbers have been reduced since freedom of information requests were introduced; if staff were diverted to freedom of information cases; if a tracking or follow up system exists; if there is a rule or guideline for sending replies other than acknowledgements; the standard in this regard; the way in which it is monitored; his views on whether responding to requests from Oireachtas Members is an integral part of the democratic system; and if he has any proposals to improve this service. [20045/00]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen):

All correspondence whether from Members of the Oireachtas or members of the public which are addressed to me or my office are, on day of receipt, acknowledged and electronically scanned and saved as an image document. The scanned document as well as a template for the draft reply are then transmitted electronically to a designated co-ordinator in the division which has responsibility for answering the representations in question.

A timescale of five working days is imposed for receipt in my office of a full draft reply to the representations. Where this timescale cannot be achieved, for example, where material is not readily available or information has to be obtained from other sources, one of our missions abroad for example, the division issues a holding reply and a substantive reply issues from my office as soon as possible thereafter. Where a reply has not issued within the five day deadline, a list of any outstanding representations is transmitted electronically to each head of division for immediate attention. A similar procedure and system is in place for dealing with all correspondence received in the office of the Minister of State Deputy O'Donnell.

Correspondence from Members of the Oireachtas which are not addressed to me or to the Minister of State are sent directly to the relevant section or division, as appropriate, for response. There is no tracking system in place to record receipt of such correspondence or to monitor response times. However, it is the policy of the Department to issue replies to written communications within ten working days of receipt and, in cases where a substantive reply cannot be issued within that time, an interim reply issues explaining the reasons. I regard responding to requests from Oireachtas members as an integral part of the democratic system and this is why they are responded to promptly.

No staff in my office, in the office of the Minister of State or in the rest of the Department are solely involved in dealing with correspondence received from members of the Oireachtas. This work is done in addition to other functions and duties of staff. There has been no reduction in staffing levels in the Department since the introduction of FOI. However, it was necessary to designate one officer in the Department to act as FOI co-ordinator, in addition to performing other duties of a coordinating nature.

I consider that procedures and systems in place in the Department are satisfactory for dealing with all correspondence received. However, you may be assured that the Department is committed to providing a quality customer service and in this regard it will continue to review the effectiveness and efficiency of its service with a view to further improving where possible the standard of service it provides.

Michael Ahern

Question:

289 Mr. M. Ahern asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the names and addresses of all persons appointed to State bodies, semi-State boards and all other institutions under the aegis of his office during the period 16 December 1994 to 26 June 1997. [20093/00]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen):

The table below sets out the information which the Deputy has requested in respect of appointments to State bodies under the aegis of this Department during the period 16 December 1994 to 26 June 1997.

Name of Body	Name of Appointee	County
Cultural Relations CommitteeJanuary 1994 – December 1995	Dr. Brendan Kennelly	Dublin
	Mr. Michael O'Siadhail	Dublin
	Mr. Paul Brady	Dublin
	Dr. Edna Longley	Antrim
	Mr. John Behan	Galway
	Ms Doireann Ní Bhriain	Dublin
	Ms Fionnuala Hunt	Dublin
	Dr. Máire de Paor	Dublin
	Ms Cecily Brennan	Dublin
	Ms Anne Augusta	Dublin
	Ms Emer McNamara	Dublin
	Ms Liz Sharkey	Wicklow
	Mr. Peter Murray	Cork
	Mr. Chris Meehan	Dublin
	Mr. Alf McLoughlin	Galway
	Prof. Terence Brown	Dublin
	Mr. Adrian Munnelly	Dublin
	Mr. T.V. Honan	Waterford
Cultural Relations CommitteeJanuary 1996 – December 1997	Dr. Brendan Kennelly	Dublin
	Mr. John Behan	Galway
	Mr. Paul Brady	Dublin
	Ms Cecily Brennan	Dublin
	Prof. Terence Brown	Dublin
	Mr. T.V. Honan	Waterford
	Ms Siobhan Burke	Dublin
	Mr. Chris Meehan	Dublin
	Ms Patricia Quinn	Dublin
	Mr. Peter Murray	Cork
	Ms Doireann Ní Bhriain	Dublin
	Ms Fionnuala Hunt	Dublin
	Mr. Alf McLoughlin	Galway
	Ms Emer McNamara	Leitrim
	Ms Jackie McKenna	Leitrim
	Mr. Michael O'Siadhail	Dublin
	Ms Liz Sharkey	Wicklow
	Ms Ann Deeny	Donegal
The Ireland United States Commission for Educational Exchange – Fulbright Commission 1994-1996	Professor Brian Farrell	Dublin
	Senator JJ Lee	Cork
	Dr. Yvonne Scannell	Dublin
	Mrs. Ann Fuller	Dublin
	Mr. Jay Fox	US Citizen
	Dr. Patricia Walsh	US Citizen, Dublin based
	Mr. Denis A. Sandberg	US Embassy Staff
	Ms Lynn Cassell	US Embassy Staff
Name of Body	Name of Appointee	County
Fulbright Commission 1996-1998	Professor Brian Farrell	Dublin
	Mrs. Ann Fuller	Dublin
	Dr. Yvonne Scannell	Dublin
	Professor Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh	Galway
	Ms Jean Kennedy Smith	US Ambassador
	Ms Madeline Spirnak	US Embassy Staff
	Dr. Patricia Walsh	US Citizen Staff, Dublin based
	Mr. Brian P. Burns	US Citizen
Irish Aid Advisory Committee (IAAC)	Prof. John Kelly (Chairperson)	Dublin
	Mr. Seán Byrne	Dublin
	Ms Sylda Langford	Dublin
	Mr. Howard Dalzell	Dublin
	Mr. Justin Kilcullen	Dublin
	Mr. John O'Shea	Dublin
	Ms Deirdre Farrell	Dublin
	Mr. Garrett Sheehan	Dublin
	Mr. John Gogan	Dublin
	Ms Gretchen Fitzgerald	Dublin
	Ms Cherrie McIlwaine	Down
	Mr. Michael O'Donnell	Mayo
	Ms Mary Jennings	Dublin
	Mr. Paddy McGuckian	Dublin
	Mr. Niall Tobin	Dublin
	Mr. Tony Fahey	Dublin
	Mr. Margaret Fitzgerald	Dublin
	Mr. Noel McDonagh	Dublin
Agency for Personal Service Overseas (APSO)	Dr. Anthony Clare (Chairperson)	Dublin
	Fr. Des McGillicuddy	Dublin
	Mr. Paul Cullen	Dublin
	Ms Anne Connolly	Dublin
	Ms Mary Sweeney	Dublin
	Mr. Robin Haran	Dublin
	Ms Maeve Healy	Dublin
	Ms June Carr	Dublin
	Ms Philomena Murnaghan	Foreign Affairs
The Refugee Agency	Ms Iseult O'Malley	Dublin
	Mr. Barry O'Hara	Department of Justice
	Ms Mary Lally	Dept SW
	Mr. Barry Murphy	Foreign Affairs
	Mr. Robert McLean	Dept ET&E
	Mr. C. E. Maoláin	Dept of Education
The National Committee for	Mr. Seán MacNamara	Dept of Education
Development Education	Ms Noreen O'Sullivan	Dept of Health
	Mr. Frank Donoghue	Dept Environment
	Archbishop Dermot Clifford	Tipperary
	Ms Wendy Cox	Dublin
	Colonel Jim Croke	Dublin
	Mr. Stan Broneé	UNHCR, London
	Mr. David Keane	Dublin
	Sr. Phil Sinnott	Dublin
	Mr. Liam Wegimont	Dublin
	Ms Philomena Murnaghan	Foreign Affairs
	Ms Bet Aalen	Dublin
Joint Department of Foreign Affairs/NGO	Amnesty International
Standing Committee on Human Rights	Irish Council for Civil Liberties
	Irish Commission for Justice and Peace
	Dochas
	UNICEF
	Banluacht
	Trocaire
	Concern
	Oxfam
	Goal
	Christian Aid
Note:It should be noted that in the case of the foregoing Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) it is the organisation concerned which is the appointee and not an individual member of the organisation.
	Mr William Duncan, TCD
	Dr. Gerard Quinn, Law Reform Commission
	Ms Niamh Reilly, Open University
	Ms Karen Kenny, Human Rights trainer for Irish Aid

Question No. 290 taken with Question No. 280.