Jim O'Keeffe
Question:97 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Taoiseach the costs and expenses associated with the Forum on Europe. [30870/01]
Written Answers. - Forum on Europe.
The inaugural meeting of the National Forum on Europe took place on 18 October.
The costs which have accrued to date in respect of the forum amount to £71,548.31 or 90,847.61.
This is broken down as follows: salaries £52,480 – 66,635.85; attendance allowances £3,780.00 – 4,799.61; travel and subsistence £2,132.05 – 2,707.15; catering £4,339.05 – 5,509.46; telephones and postage £3,512.17 – 4459.54; office equipment and stationery £4,729.47 – 6,005.19; and miscellaneous £575.57 – 730.82
The full staffing complement has only recently been put in place. Accordingly, full staffing costs will only apply from this month onwards. Costs associated with the installation of a computer system for the forum's secretariat, the design and implementation of its website will fall due from mid to end December.
The cost associated with operating each plenary is in the region of £10,000 or 12,697. To date five plenary sessions have been held with a further two planned to the end of 2001.
An attendance allowance of £180 or 229 per forum sitting is payable to participants who are not separately paid from public funds or are not full-time officials of bodies such as trade unions, employer organisations, etc. It is strictly applied in cases where a loss of income arises from attending the forum. Expenses in relation to travel and subsistence are payable in accordance with civil service rates.
The cost of operating the National Forum on Europe in 2002 is estimated at £1.56 million or 2.0 million. The principal features of the estimate are: salaries £450,000 – 571,382; attendance allowances and travel and subsistence £300,000 – 380,921; secretariat/research for delegation £100,000 – 126,973; and catering £120,000 – 152,368.