The list provided by the Deputy refers to a variety of organisations and groups, including Expert Groups, Councils, two Agencies and two Offices of the Department. The information requested by the Deputy in respect of those Agencies that have a Board structure and separate staff complement is set out in Table 1.
In relation to the two Offices of the Department, the Office of the Registrar of Friendly Societies and the Patents Office, their staffing requirements are met from within the overall staff allocation for my Department. As regards the other organisations listed, namely:
Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation,
Expert Group on Future Skills Needs,
Irish National Accreditation Board,
Management Development Council,
National Competitiveness Council,
Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government,
these are representative advisory Groups and Councils for which the Department or one of its Agencies provides secretariat support. The Department may, where appropriate, be represented on these bodies. The costs associated with these bodies are, in general, met from the resource allocations of the Department or of the Agency that hosts the Groups. However, the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN) reports jointly to me and to the Minister for Education and Skills. The costs of the EGFSN are met from the National Training Fund, which is administered by the Minister for Education and Skills.
Information in relation to the Irish Takeover Panel is being collated and I will arrange to forward it to the Deputy at the earliest opportunity.
Finally, I can advise the Deputy that, in March 2010, in light of the recommendations in the "McCarthy Report", a decision was taken that transferred the funding allocation previously made available by this Department in respect of the Irish Council for Bioethics (ICB) to the Department of Health and Children. Subsequently, as part of the programme for agency rationalisation and in line with the Government decision taken last year to dissolve the Council, I understand that an application seeking voluntary strike-off of the company was lodged with the Companies Registration Office in February of this year.
Table 1:
|
Agency
|
No. of WTE Staff
|
No. of Board Members
|
Remuneration Packages
|
Agency Wage Bill (2011 Est)
|
Total Agency Exchequer Funding (2011 Est)
|
|
InterTradeIreland1
|
47.11
|
12
|
Chairman — £8,570 Board Member — €8,100
|
€1,341,000
|
€8,041,000
|
|
National Standards Authority of Ireland2
|
163.55
|
13 (currently 9 with 4 vacancies)
|
Chairman — €11,970Board Member — €7,695
|
€13,237,068
|
€6,336,000 (excluding Capital of €500k)
|
Note 1: InterTradeIreland is one of the six North/South Implementation Bodies established under the Belfast Agreement (the ‘Good Friday Agreement') in 1998. It is jointly funded on a 2:1 ratio, respectively, by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation in Dublin and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Investment in Northern Ireland. Its total annual budget from both Departments in 2011 is €12m and the figures quoted in the table reflect my Department's contribution towards its wage bill and total running costs. The Board is made up of 6 representatives each from the South and the North of Ireland and the current Chairman is a representative from the North.
Note 2: The National Standards Authority of Ireland generates income from fees for services that it provides, which reduces the Exchequer contribution required to deliver its services.
