Vol. 549 No. 4
49 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of his Department which it is proposed to establish; if it is intended that each such body will have a statutory basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7104/02]
50 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of his Department which were established otherwise than pursuant to statute or statutory instruments; if there are proposals to establish such body or bodies on a statutory basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7119/02]
51 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of his Department which were established pursuant to statutory instrument; the particulars of the statutory instrument in each case; if there are proposals to give each body a basis in statute as opposed to statutory instrument; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7134/02]
54 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the proposed statutory instruments being prepared in, or under the auspices of, his Department; the proposed effect of each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7179/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 49 to 51, inclusive, and 54 together.
The National Economic and Social Council, the National Economic and Social Forum and the National Centre for Partnership and Performance are currently established on a non-statutory basis but will be placed on a statutory basis once the National Economic and Social Development Office Bill is enacted. The Central Statistics Office comes under the aegis of my Department. The national statistics board was established under the Statistics Act, 1993. The new Information Society Commission was appointed in November 2001 as an advisory body to Government. It was established pursuant to a Government decision. It is not a statutory body and there are no proposals to give it a statutory basis.
As the Deputy will appreciate, my Department is involved in a range of cross-departmental activities and initiatives, including many groups or bodies which are under the auspices of other Departments. The most significant of the committees, boards, companies or other bodies currently under the auspices of my Department are the National Millennium Committee, the legislation committee, to progress the Government's legislation programme; the SMI implementation group of secretaries general; the steering group for the evaluation of SMI; the high level group on regulation; the quality customer service working group; the national implementation body under the adjustments to the terms of the PPF; and the National Forum on Europe. There are no plans to establish any of these groups on a statutory basis.
Although independent of the Department, the All-Party Committee on the Constitution and the McCracken and Moriarty tribunals are funded from my Department's Vote. I also have ministerial responsibility in respect of certain administrative matters relating to the Offices of the Attorney General, Chief State Solicitor and Director of Public Prosecutions.
