Written Answers. - Departmental Bodies.
Bernard Allen
Question:
53
Mr. Allen
asked the
Tánaiste
and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of her Department which were established from 1997 to date otherwise than pursuant to statute or statutory instruments; if there are proposals to give the body in question a statutory basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[17821/02]
Bernard Allen
Question:
54
Mr. Allen
asked the
Tánaiste
and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of her Department which were established from 1997 to date pursuant to statutory instrument; the particulars of the statutory instrument in each case; if there are proposals to have the body in question given a basis in statute as opposed to statutory instrument; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[17871/02]
I propose to answer Questions Nos. 53 and 54 together.
The following are details of the committees, boards, companies or other bodies which the Deputy requires. The first group is bodies established since 1997 to date otherwise than pursuant to statute or statutory instrument.
I established the review group on auditing in February 2000, following the first report by the Committee of Public Accounts of the parliamentary inquiry into DIRT, which proposed that a number of areas of possible reform in the audit ing profession should be examined. It is not proposed to establish this body on a statutory basis. The Asia Pacific strategy group was established under the auspices of the foreign earnings committee following the adoption by the Government of the strategy for long-term development of foreign earnings in Asia in 1999. It oversees the implementation of the strategy. As this body discharges a consultative and coordination functions it does not have a statutory basis and it is not intended to give it one.
An interdepartmental and agency group was established in 1998 on a non-statutory basis to oversee Ireland's participation in EXPO 2000. The group was stood down following the conclusion of EXPO 2000 in October 2000. In 1997, the Minister for Enterprise and Employment established the Patents Office users council to consider and report to the Minister on the administration of industrial property protection by the Patents Office and to advise on appropriate changes and innovations in the operation of the office. There are no proposals to give a statutory basis to the Patents Office users council at this time. The code of practice committee on unsolicited commercial communications was established in 2000 to examine the feasibility of a code of practice that would complement the legislation giving effect to the provisions on unsolicited commercial communications in the electronic commerce directive. The draft legislation to give effect to the directive was formally notified to the Commission in August 2002 and it is anticipated will be signed into law later this year.
On 22 February 2000 a timber industry development group was launched. There are no proposals to give the group a statutory basis. The e-work action forum was set up in November 1999 to provide a focal point for the ongoing development of an environment which will stimulate telework/ework employment opportunities and ensure that this method of working achieves its full potential in contributing to economic growth and an improved quality of life. It is not intended to establish the forum on a statutory basis. The national competitiveness council was established on a non-statutory basis in May 1997. There is no intention of giving it statutory backing.
A national minimum wage monitoring committee was set up in June 2000 to monitor implementation of the National Minimum Wage Act. There are no plans to give the committee a statutory basis. The national framework committee on family friendly policies was established in July 2000 to identify actions to be undertaken by the social partners at national level that support family friendly policies in the workplace. There are no plans to give the committee a statutory basis. There are also no plans to have the monitoring group on the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997, placed on a statutory basis. There are no plans to place the following groups on a statutory basis: the tripartite group on the fixed-term work directive, Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999 and the monitoring group on the Protection of Young Persons (Employment) Act, 1996.
The task force on the prevention of workplace bullying and the review group on public safety were both established otherwise than pursuant to statute or statutory instrument. The task force and the review group have completed their respective work and the report of each has been published. Both groups have now ceased to exist. An interdepartmental committee on science and technology, an interdepartmental group on modern biotechnology and a PPF standing committee on labour market issues have been established. There are no plans for establishing them on a statutory basis.
In early 2000, the Department in collaboration with the Department of Education and Science established a task force on lifelong learning. This task force was established as provided for under framework IV of the PPF, and has involved representation from relevant stakeholders including representatives of the social partners. The task force has completed its work and its report will be forwarded to Government shortly. A users' council for the office of the Registrar of Friendly Societies was established in August 2001 on a non-statutory basis. There are no proposals to give the users' council a statutory basis. An interdepartmental committee has been established with a co-ordination role in regard to expenditure by Government Departments and agencies on research, technological development and innovation, RTDI, under the productive sector operational programme, PSOP. There are no plans to give it a statutory basis.
As provided for under the national development plan, my Department is the designated managing authority for the employment and human resources operational programme and the EQUAL community initiative. The operational programme and the initiative are overseen by two separate and distinct monitoring committees, established and chaired by my Department. The committees have decision making powers in the case of European Social Fund part funded activity. They are non-statutory committees and have agreed their own rules of procedure, in accordance with the provisions of both the national development plan and the community support framework agreed with the European Commission. There are no plans to give them a statutory basis.
As provided for in the national development plan, my Department established and chairs a horizontal employment and human resources development co-ordinating committee to monitor European Social Fund part funded activity and related employment/labour market issues. The role of the committee is to consider, from time to time, key policy issues and actions in such fields. The committee does not have a decision making role and is non-statutory. There are no plans to give it a statutory basis.
The national anti-poverty strategy, NAPS, employment working group was established by this Department in 2001 as part of the process of reviewing and updating the national anti-poverty strategy. The work of this group has been concluded following the submission of a number of recommendations, as part of the review process, on employment policy's contribution to reducing poverty and eliminating social exclusion. Since mid-2000 the management of a Local Employment Service has been assigned to FÁS. A new employment services advisory committee, ESAC, to the FÁS executive has been established to carry forward this process. This was done at my request and with the approval of Government. There are no plans to establish the committee on a statutory basis.
Following consultation with the social partners, the Government announced a new proactive, skills based immigration policy in 2000. An immigration advisory committee was established as part of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness and is chaired by my Department and includes the social partners. There are no proposals to put the committee on a statutory footing. The national training advisory committee was established in December 2001 to advise the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment on issues relating to training people in and for employment and on the priorities for support from the national training fund. There are no plans to establish the committee under statute.
The social economy programme arose from a Government decision on foot of a P2000 working group report on the social economy. The social economy national monitoring committee chaired by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and comprising trade union, local employers, farming, community and voluntary pillar representatives as well as relevant Government Departments and statutory bodies was established to oversee the development and implementation of the programme. There are no proposals to give a statutory basis to this committee.
In October 2001, the Competition Authority established the Competition Authority advisory panel to advise it on legal, policy, management and strategic issues. The panel has no executive role and does not discuss individual enforcement cases. The panel will sit for two years. It does not have a statutory basis and its not intended to give it one. The euro-taxis euro changeover group was a group consisting of representatives from the Department of the Environment and Local Government, the Euro Changeover Board, the Legal Metrology Office, Dublin Corporation, the Garda carriage office and Forfás set up in June 2001 to ensure a smooth changeover of taximeters for the euro. This group has now ceased to exist.
An implementation group, set up in March 2001, has been progressing the establishment of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board. The group reported earlier this year and has com pleted the specific and time bound task for which it was set up. The consumer advisory council was set up in June 2001. There are no proposals to have the council given a statutory basis. The redundancy review group was established by Government in April 2002 to review the operation of the redundancy payments scheme. The group reported to me at the end of July 2002 and has now been disbanded. A "round table" for SMEs was established on a non-statutory basis in July 2001. There is no proposal to give it a statutory basis. A consultative forum, dealing with issues relating to the proposed administrative transfer of the National Metrology Laboratory from Enterprise Ireland to the National Standards Authority of Ireland was established and held its first meeting on 11 April 2002. The consultation process is ongoing. The forum will be representative of the management, staff and their unions of the two organisations concerned and the Department. It will not have a statutory basis.
The Motor Insurance Advisory Board report implementation group reported to me earlier this year and has completed the specific and time bound task for which it was set up. The BASIS – Business Access to State Information and Services – cross-departmental committee was established to manage Phase II of the BASIS project. The objective of this project is to co-ordinate the development of integrated e-government services in order to make it easier for business to deal with Government. There are no plans to give this committee a statutory basis.
The company law review group was established as a statutory advisory body to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment by section 7 of the Company Law Enforcement Act, 2001. The review group is charged with advising the Minister on the reform and strategic development of the companies code in Ireland. A commission to develop a framework for a national policy for research and technological development has been convened to bring forward proposals for the development of an overarching framework for research and technological development in Ireland. The commission is expected to submit its proposals for the consideration of Government, to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment by the end of 2002. There are no plans to give it a statutory basis.
As recommended in the report of the review group on auditing, I established the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority, IAASA, on an interim basis. The interim board is advising me during the drafting of legislation to give effect to the review group's recommendations. This legislation will provide for the establishment of IAASA on a statutory basis.
The second group comprises bodies established since 1997 to date pursuant to statutory instrument. The Register of Patent Agents Rules (SI 180 of 1982) provide for a board to consider applications from persons wishing to be entered in the register of patent agents. The Trade Mark Rules (SI 199 of 1996) also provide for a board to consider applications from persons wishing to be entered in the register of trade mark agents. There are no proposals to give these boards a basis in statute as opposed to statutory instrument.
Bernard Allen
Question:
55
Mr. Allen
asked the
Minister for Defence
the committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of his Department which were established from 1997 to date otherwise than pursuant to statute or statutory instruments; if there are proposals to give the bodies in question a statutory basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[17822/02]
Apart from routine departmental committees which are established on an ongoing basis, the following bodies have been established under the auspices of my Department other than pursuant to statute or statutory instruments.
Arising from the Partnership 2000 agreement for inclusion, employment and competitiveness a number of partnership committees have been established. There are no proposals to have the committees in question given a statutory basis. In the context of the White Paper on Defence, which was published in 2000, the Government decided to establish a standing interdepartmental defence and security environment assessment committee under the aegis of my Department and comprising nominees from my Department, civil and military, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Garda Síochána and the Department of the Taoiseach. There are no proposals to have the committee in question given a statutory basis.
Arising from the report of the air accident investigation unit of the Department of Public Enterprise into the accident at Tramore in 1999, a working group, comprising representatives from both the civilian and military branches of my Department and from the Department of the Marine and Natural Resources, was established in September 2000 to monitor progress in regard to the implementation of the safety recommendations set out in that report. There are no proposals to have the group in question given a statutory basis. The Government task force on emergency planning and an interdepartmental working group on emergency planning were set up following the events of 11 September 2001. There are no proposals to have either of these bodies given a statutory basis.
Arising from the report of the external advisory group on the Defence Forces in relation to bullying, harassment, sexual harassment and discrimination in the Defence Forces, the Doyle report, a monitoring group was set up in April 2002 to give effect to the recommendations contained therein. An equality steering group has also been set up on foot of these recommendations. There are no proposals to have either of these groups given a statutory basis.
Bernard Allen
Question:
56
Mr. Allen
asked the
Minister for Defence
the committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of his Department which were established from 1997 to date pursuant to statutory instrument; the particulars of the statutory instrument in each case; if there are proposals to have the bodies in question given a basis in statute as opposed to statutory instrument; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[17872/02]
There are no committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of my Department which were established pursuant to statutory instrument during the period in question.
