There are no agencies operating under the aegis of my Department. Below are the details requested for the two bodies that operate under the auspices of my Department: the Development Education Advisory Committee (DEAC) and Emigrant Services Advisory Committee (ESAC). The membership of the Committee was renewed for a further two-year term in April 2010. Members serve in a voluntary capacity and are not remunerated. Travel expenses relating to the work of the Committee are reimbursed on a vouched basis.
The administration of the DEAC is serviced by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade from the Department's overall budget.
The current membership of the Committee is as follows:
Ms Moira Leydon, Assistant General Secretary, Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (Chairperson).
Mr. Kevin J. McCarthy, Department of Education and Skills Inspectorate.
Ms Annette Honan, National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).
Dr. Claire Lyons, Mary I College, Limerick.
Ms Maria Barry, Trócaire.
Mr. Patsy Toland, Self Help Africa.
Dr. Paul Conway, University College Cork.
The primary role of the Emigrant Services Advisory Committee (ESAC) is to advise me on the welfare of and the allocation of grants to Irish community organisations in Britain under the Emigrant Support Programme.
The Committee consists of thirteen members, including two officers from our Embassy in London who act as Chair and Secretary to the Committee. The other eleven members of the Committee serve in a voluntary capacity.
In April of this year, after consultation with our Embassy in London and the Irish Abroad Unit in the Department, I made the following appointments to the Committee:
Mr. Michael Forde — Chairman of the Irish Diaspora Foundation.
Mr. Séamus McGarry — Member of the Ireland Fund of Great Britain; Board of Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith.
Mr. Jim O'Hara — Vice Chair, Irish Youth Foundation UK, Chair of Irish Cultural Centre, Hammersmith.
Cllr. Sally Mulready — Councillor in the London Borough of Hackney; Irish Elderly Advice Network.
Mr. Tony Cusack — Manager of Irish Centre in Leicester.
Ms Breege McDaid — Chief Executive, Irish Community Care Merseyside.
Mr. Tony Corcoran — Tyneside Irish Festival and Secretary of the Tyneside Irish Centre.
Mr. Des Hurley — Chief Executive, Irish Arts Foundation.
Ms Bridie Nugent — Board Member of the Irish Welfare and Information Centre in Birmingham.
Mr. John Gormley Former President of the GAA in Britain.
Mr. Joe Brown Chair of the Irish Travellers Movement.
The Chairperson is Ms Jane Connolly and the Secretary is Michael Keavaney. The Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange (The Fulbright Commission) and the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC) do not operate under my direct authority. The Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange enjoys autonomy of management and administration in accordance with section 2(5) of the Educational Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America) Act, 1991. Under section 3(1) of the 1991 Act, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade is responsible for the appointment of four members of the eight - member Commission.
The Commission's accounts are available in the Oireachtas library. The Good Friday Agreement provides for the establishment of the North/South Ministerial Council and the NSMC Joint Secretariat, which was established in Armagh to support and facilitate the North/South Ministerial Council. It is jointly-staffed by personnel from the Irish and Northern Irish civil services. The NSMC, and each of the North/South Bodies which operate on an all-island basis under the auspices of the NSMC, are accountable to the Oireachtas and the Northern Ireland Assembly.
