Yes. The office will still be directly linked to the Department of the Taoiseach. The savings for 2002-2003, which was a costly year, were of the order of 8% and that figure will grow because non-recurring costs were included, such as those for staff moving into their new office in Parnell Square. The expenditure on NESDO is approximately €3.4 million, while that on NESC and NESF is quite small and the costs of NCPP are just in excess of €1 million. NESDO has three staff, NESC has seven, NESF has six and NCPP has eight. There is a slight duplication of staff because the chief executive officer of NESDO is included in figures for two bodies. Therefore, there are 22 or 23 people in the office.
In the context of the synergies to which Deputy Rabbitte referred, the primary role of NESDO is to add value to the work of the constituent bodies by creating the conditions under which synergies can be released, joint projects pursued and the potential for duplication — which the offices had identified was inherent in the system — minimised. The office promotes the development of a shared vision for realising these goals and encouraging the constituent bodies to maximise their efforts to collaborate on policy development initiatives and this is working quite well. The bodies will not lose their individual positions. NESC will continue to provide strategic analysis through its reports and will develop the national framework within which discussions on future national agreements and various other issues will take place. NESF will continue to monitor and analyse the implementation of specific measures and programmes identified in the context of social partnerships, especially those to do with issues of equality and social inclusion, and NCPP will continue to focus on bringing about change and improving performance in the workplace through partnership.
I am satisfied the terms of reference of the three bodies are complementary and that they can gain a great deal from working in the one building with a joint administration. They will each play their own role when necessary but will also work collectively, which the bodies have proven they do well. Under the umbrella of NCPP, a programme was undertaken last year, including a workplace forum and various conferences and other activities through which the bodies did an enormous amount of work which was totally focused on change and improving performance through partnership in the workplace. The programme was developed from their first meeting in Dublin Castle last year and was brought throughout the country and involved employers, employees, State and private sector companies and people engaged in education and so on. They also produced a cost review study under the umbrella of NCPP.
Overall, it was a good gathering of small offices working individually and collectively to do a very good job. The former executive chairperson has set out a very ambitious programme for the next number of years which, if followed, will make this a very successful project.