The National Economic and Social Development Office (NESDO), which includes the National Economic and Social Council (NESC), comes under the aegis of my Department. The total number of whole time equivalent staff is 19.2.
There are currently 33 members on the NESC Council, which is chaired by the Secretary General of my Department. No remuneration is paid to persons in relation to their membership of the Council.
The grant-in-aid for NESDO for this year, which is paid out of my Department's Vote, is €2.325m, of which €1.8m has been allocated for salaries.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is an Independent Office and is not under the aegis of my Department. Similarly, the National Statistics Board (NSB) which is established under the Statistics Act 1993 is not a board under the aegis of my Department. However to be helpful to the Deputy I am providing the information requested in relation to both the CSO and the NSB.
Central Statistics Office
The Central Statistics Office allocation in 2011 is €80.067m, compared with spending of €50.762m in 2010. The increase this year relates to the Census of Population. The total number of whole time equivalent staff serving in the CSO at 30 September 2011 was 828. The peak number of staff was in April, during collection of the census, when more than 5,000 field staff were employed. The total annual wages and salaries bill for the CSO amounted to €35.866m in 2010. The corresponding allocation for 2011 is €38.997m for office-based staff and €22.246m for staff engaged in the collection of statistics.
National Statistics Board
Under the Statistics Act 1993, the National Statistics Board comprises a Chairperson and seven Board members.
One position on the board is unfilled at present. The Chairperson receives an annual stipend of €8,978 and four of the seven Board members are paid an annual stipend of €5,985. The other members are serving Civil Servants and receive no additional remuneration for serving on the Board. The costs of the Board are met from the CSO Vote.