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Northern Ireland Issues

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2012

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Questions (1233)

Gerry Adams

Question:

1233. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will provide details of the type and frequency of North South engagement his Department undertakes; the current priorities in this area; the number of whole time equivalent staff assigned to these matters; the grades involved and the amount of time each grade spends on North South Activities as a proportion of their WTE employment; the co-ordination arrangements that have been put in place; if there are any current vacancies in North South Co-operation unites; the duration of this vacancy and the steps being taken to fill the vacancy. [48553/12]

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Written answers

I and my officials are directly involved in ongoing and frequent North South engagement up to and including the highest levels. Most of this work is undertaken in the context of actively pursuing our priorities for advancing cooperation through the structures of the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC). As the Deputy will be aware the Council meets in both Transport and Tourism Sectoral formats. The last NSMC Transport meeting took place on the 5th October. Amongst the areas of ongoing North South cooperation discussed at this meeting were the mutual recognition of penalty points, progress on the A5/A8 road projects, the development and delivery of road safety strategies, cooperation in the area of enforcement of vehicle safety standards and current EU proposals with implications for the transport sector on the island.

The next NSMC Tourism Sectoral is scheduled for the 28th November. Amongst the discussion items will be Tourism Ireland's Business Plan for 2013 and major tourism initiatives next year such as The Gathering Ireland 2013 and the UK City of Culture.

With regard to staffing,  because of the importance of the work within the Department, in practice north/south cooperation is mainstreamed into day-to-day work right across the Department. The divisions and agencies dealing with various policy areas have regular interaction with their colleagues in Northern Ireland.

As previously outlined to the Deputy, general North/South coordination is overseen within my Department  by the Tourism Marketing & Impact Assessment Unit and is supported by 1 Principal Officer, 1 Assistant Principal Officer and 1 Higher Executive Officer led by the relevant Assistant Secretary. Responsibility rests with this unit as it also deals with the oversight of Tourism Ireland, the only North South body under the aegis of my Department. There are no vacancies in this unit at present.

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