Tuesday, 16 Jul 2013

Written Answers Nos. 118-134

Exports Data

Questions (118)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

118. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Taoiseach the total value of exports for the most recent five years for which data are available by sector and by destination. [35306/13]

Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Paul Kehoe)

The information requested by the Deputy is set out in tables 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D below.

Table 1A : Value of Goods Exports by Product Category 2008-2013 (€million)

SITC (Rev 4) Description	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013 (Jan-May)
00 Live animals other than animals of Division 03	248	296	339	357	330	77
01 Meat and meat preparations	2,390	2,185	2,407	2,762	2,978	1,188
02 Dairy products and birds eggs	1,442	1,114	1,431	1,777	1,647	658
03 Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and Preparations thereof	333	324	371	416	522	235
04 Cereals and cereal preparations	282	237	217	266	283	123
05 Vegetables and fruit	278	235	228	225	232	96
06 Sugars, sugar preparations and honey	107	103	83	90	111	53
07 Coffee, tea, cocoa, spices and manufactures thereof	254	249	268	284	362	170
08 Feeding stuff for animals (excl unmilled cereals)	169	163	189	212	235	110
09 Miscellaneous edible products and preparations	1,583	1,374	1,472	1,485	1,430	670
11 Beverages	1,162	1,007	1,117	1,086	1,123	404
12 Tobacco and tobacco manufactures	75	72	87	92	85	33
21 Hides, skins and furskins, raw	70	54	97	123	112	53
22 Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits	3	1	2	9	16	1
23 Crude rubber (incl synthetic and reclaimed)	2	1	1	1	1	1
24 Cork and wood	71	67	102	108	112	51
25 Pulp and waste paper	60	46	60	53	52	22
26 Textile fibres and their wastes	115	100	118	133	144	59
27 Crude fertilisers and minerals (excl coal, petroleum and precious stones)	81	81	83	148	142	57
28 Metalliferous ores and metal scrap	809	530	888	1,096	1,045	432
29 Crude animal and vegetable materials nes	102	91	93	94	107	44
32 Coal, coke and briquettes	56	53	58	65	68	35
33 Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials	757	534	949	1,251	1,567	279
34 Gas, natural and manufactured	12	7	21	38	30	5
35 Electric Current	7	1	-	-	4	3
41 Animal oils and fats	36	17	23	47	47	20
42 Fixed vegetable fats and oils	3	2	3	6	7	3
43 Animal or vegetable fats and oils, processed waxes	2	1	1	2	2	1
51 Organic chemicals	17,816	18,130	19,722	19,969	20,078	7,965
52 Inorganic chemicals	116	59	90	147	192	88
53 Dyeing, tanning and colouring materials	62	60	171	145	160	84
54 Medical and pharmaceutical products	16,750	21,722	23,959	26,393	24,520	8,972
55 Essential oils perfume materials toilet and cleansing preparations	5,455	5,459	5,818	5,777	6,245	2,794
56 Fertilisers (other than those of Division 27)	2	2	2	2	3	1
57 Plastics in primary forms	247	216	266	313	304	135
58 Plastics in non-primary forms	261	229	304	320	326	154
59 Chemical materials and products nes	3,516	3,438	2,904	2,965	3,209	1,369
61 Leather leather manufactures nes dressed furskins	21	19	21	24	27	10
62 Rubber manufactures nes	52	44	51	56	65	28
63 Cork and wood manufactures (excl furniture)	216	166	198	200	220	97
64 Paper, paperboard and articles thereof	149	115	117	131	143	59
65 Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products	183	141	160	169	155	57
66 Non-metallic mineral manufactures nes	282	219	251	227	284	105
67 Iron and steel	90	53	73	95	106	49
68 Non-ferrous metals	97	76	81	90	77	27
69 Manufactures of metals nes	571	412	497	666	610	230
71 Power generating machinery and equipment	587	477	623	706	790	330
72 Machinery specialised for particular industries	500	426	395	495	468	213
73 Metalworking machinery	45	31	27	25	28	9
74 General industrial machinery and equipment nes and parts nes	1,211	895	1,111	1,338	1,354	561
75 Office machines and automatic data processing machines	9,329	6,677	4,463	3,562	3,686	1,541
76 Telecommunications and sound equipment	1,318	1,001	818	708	994	303
77 Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliance nes and parts	4,793	3,339	2,730	2,873	2,612	982
78 Road vehicles (incl air-cushion vehicles)	249	271	180	195	215	101
79 Other transport equipment	333	708	241	468	390	167
81 Prefab buildings plumbing and electrical fixtures and fittings	135	103	102	99	92	45
82 Furniture and parts thereof bedding,Cushions etc	102	85	95	95	96	46
83 Travel goods, handbags and similar containers	14	16	26	38	29	6
84 Articles of apparel clothing accessories	153	160	358	371	362	82
85 Footwear	28	26	51	54	53	12
87 Professional, scientific and controlling apparatus nes	2,806	3,008	3,249	3,380	3,613	1,469
88 Photographic apparatus optical goods watches and clocks	901	934	1,111	1,066	1,115	442
89 Miscellaneous manufactured articles nes	4,764	4,845	5,378	5,127	5,487	2,214
Commodities and transactions not classified elsewhere	1,981	2,464	2,711	179	484	193
Unclassified estimates	752	832	643	534	596	284
Total	86,394	85,803	89,703	91,228	91,981	36,108

Departmental Reports

Questions (119)

Niall Collins

Question:

119. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Taoiseach if he will provide in tabular form the name, costs, date of commission, date or expected date of publication and name of the external consultant of all external reports commissioned by his Department since March 2011. [34410/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

The table provides details of external reports commissioned by my Department from March 2011 to mid July 2013.

Name of Consultant	Details of Report Commissioned	€
QTS	Health and Safety Consultancy – Health and Safety Statement 2011	1,270.50
QTS	Health and Safety Consultancy – Health and Safety Statement 2012	1,270.50

Commemorative Events

Questions (120)

Stephen Donnelly

Question:

120. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Taoiseach if he will provide a breakdown of the total cost to his Department, for its involvement in the recent JFK50 commemoration events; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34434/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

The costs arising from my Department's involvement with these events relate to the provision of protocol and press services in Wexford on Saturday 22 June 2013. The cost to date for these is €288.

Departmental Bodies Board Remuneration

Questions (121)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

121. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide, in tabular form, a breakdown of the fees and expenses paid to each member of each State board, to include the chair and board member and the number of members on each State board under the aegis of his Department. [34520/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

The National Economic and Social Council is the only State agency under the aegis of my Department. There are 32 Council Members, 1 Chairperson and 1 Deputy Chairperson. No fees or expenses were paid to either the chairperson or deputy chairperson of NESC. The following National Economic & Social Council Members claimed travel and subsistence expenses for 2012 and 2013 to date.

NESC Council Members who claimed expenses 2012 and 2013 to date	Fees	2012	To date 2013
Michael O'Sullivan	Nil	€4,196.96	€1,859.44
Mary Daly	Nil	€543.29	€1,753.51
Frank Allen	Nil	€954.96	€478.36

*Michael O'Sullivan and Mary Daly are based outside of Ireland.

Appointments to the National Statistics Board (NSB) are made in line with the provisions of Section 18 of the Statistics Act 1993.

The Chairperson is eligible to receive an annual stipend of €8,978 and four of the seven Board members are eligible to receive an annual stipend of €5,985. One member has declined to receive a stipend payment. The other members are serving Civil Servants and receive no additional remuneration for serving on the Board. All members are entitled to claim expenses.

-	2012 National Statistics Board - Payments (Stipend + expenses)	-	-
Members	Annual Stipend Gross Amount	Expenses 2012 Travel & Subsistence	Annual Total
Patricia O'Hara (Chair)	€8,978.00	€247.30	€9,225.30
Ciaran Dolan	€5,985.00	€660.54	€6,645.54
Fergal O'Brien	€5,985.00	€0.00	€5,985.00
Paul Sweeney	€5,985.00	€0.00	€5,985.00
Philip Lane	€0.00	€0.00	€0.00
John Callinan	N/A Civil Servant	€0.00
Michael McGrath	N/A Civil Servant	€0.00
Padraig Dalton	N/A Civil Servant	€0.00
	Total		€27,840.84
	2013 National Statistics Board - Stipend Payments
Members	Quarterly Stipend Gross Amount	Expenses 2013 Travel & Subsistence	Total to date12-7-13*
Patricia O'Hara (Chair)	€2,244.50	€0.00	€4,489.00
Ciaran Dolan	€1,496.25	€0.00	€2,992.50
Fergal O'Brien	€1,496.25	€0.00	€2,992.50
Paul Sweeney	€1,496.25	€0.00	€ 2,992.50
Philip Lane	€0.00	€0.00	€     -
John Callinan	N/A Civil Servant	€0.00
Michael McGrath	N/A Civil Servant	€0.00
Padraig Dalton	N/A Civil Servant	€0.00
	Total		€ 13,466.50

* To date in 2013 two stipend payments have been made. 

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (122)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

122. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide, in tabular form, the annual salary of all non-commercial State sponsored bodies chief executive officers under the aegis of his Department. [34536/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

The National Economic and Social Council (NESC) is the only State Agency under the aegis of my Department.

Non Commercial State Sponsored Body	Salary of Director
National Economic and Social Council (NESC)	€164,892 per annum *

* The salary shown is with effect from 1st July 2013 and is inclusive of an allowance in lieu of superannuation.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (123, 125)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

123. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide, in tabular form, a list of all professional fees, including but not limited to legal, consultancy, IT related, advisory, advertising and accountancy; the company name and the amount invoiced between 1 June 2012 and 31 May 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34552/13]

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

125. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide the annual saving to the Exchequer of a 20% reduction to all professional fees, including but not limited to legal, consultancy, IT related, advisory, advertising and accountancy; and the company name and the amount invoiced between 1 June 2012 and 31 May 2013. [34584/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 123 and 125 together.

The below table details the expenditure by my Department on professional services, where professional services withholding tax has been applied, from 1 June 2012 to end May 2013.

Expenditure on Professional Services from 01/06/12 to 31/05/13

Company Name	€
Caroline Erskine	€36,564.90
Centre For European Negotiation	€27,659.75
Design Factory	€4,040.55
Geralyn Downey	€200.00
Grafton Medical Practice	€189.00
MM Motion Design	€13,284.00
Power Design	€1,279.20
Red Dog Design Consultants	€1,740.45
Terminal Four Ltd	€140,010.61
Total	€224,968.46

Savings of €44,994 would be available to the Exchequer if a 20% reduction was applied.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (124, 127)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

124. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide, in tabular form, a breakdown of all third level courses, training programmes and courses and accompanying cost for the 2012-13 academic year, 1 September 2012 to 30 June 2013, provided for employees of his Department. [34568/13]

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

127. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide, in tabular form, the annual saving to the Exchequer of a 5%, 7%, 10%, 12%, 15%, 17% and 20% reduction to training and development for his Department. [34616/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 124 and 127 together.

The information requested by the Deputy is contained in the tables:

Courses and Programmes	Costs	Number of people
Post Graduate	10,469	4
Graduate	7,240	3
Certificates	7,630	3
Language Training	4,275	5
Management Development	2,244	8
Leadership Development	7,500	16
IT Skills Training	8,655	48
Masterclass in Public Policy	1,425	3
Introduction to Policy Analysis	no cost*	21
Government Financial Procedures	no cost*	20
The Legislative Process	no cost*	31
Creating and Maintaining Departmental Records	no cost*	53
Effective Use of eTenders Website	195	1
New Single Public Service Pension	288	2
Interview Board Training	700	3
IT Network Training	316	2
The Changing Role of the Clerical Officer	no cost**	14
Health and Safety Training	500 no cost*** 176 (materials)	4 28
Total	51,613	269

* Training workshops facilitated by DOT members of staff with expertise in the these areas.

** This training programme was provided in collaboration with the Department of Social Protection and incurred no cost.

*** This training was provided free of charge by the OPW.

A reduction in the 2012/13 academic year training and development expenditure of my Department would be as follows:

2012/13 Spend	Less 5%	Less 7%	Less 10%	Less 12%	Less 15%	Less 17%	Less 20%
51,613	49,032	48,000	46,452	45,420	43,871	42,839	41,290
Saving	2,581	3,613	5,161	6,193	7,742	8,774	10,323

EU Presidency training was provided from the Presidency budget for staff across Departments and facilitated 319 people at a cost of €38,335.

Question No. 125 answered with Question No. 123.

Exchequer Savings

Questions (126)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

126. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide in tabular form the annual saving to the Exchequer of 1%, 5%, 7%, 10%, 12%, 15%, 17% and 20% reduction to travel and expenses for his Department. [34600/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

My Department's 2013 budget allocation for administration subhead (ii) travel and subsistence is €390,000. Expenditure in this subhead from 1 January to end June was €162,172. In addition expenditure in respect of travel costs associated with the administration subhead (viii) EU Presidency from 1 January to end June was €51,283.

The following table provides details of the annual savings to the Exchequer of reductions between 1% and 20% to travel expenditure based on a projected annual spend of €375,628 including both subheads (ii) and (viii):

%	1%	5%	7%	10%	12%	15%	17%	20%
Estimated savings	€ 3,756	€ 18,781	€ 26,294	€ 37,563	€ 45,075	€ 56,344	€ 63,857	€ 75,126

Question No. 127 answered with Question No. 124.

Exchequer Savings

Questions (128)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

128. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Taoiseach if he will provide, in tabular form, the annual saving to the Exchequer if all his special advisers' pay was capped at the first point of the principal officer grade; and if he will provide a list of all salaries, post-implementation of the Haddington Road agreement paid to his special advisers. [34632/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

There are five Special Advisers employed by my Department, four of whom are my Special Advisers and one of whom is Special Adviser to the Government Chief Whip.

The details requested in relation to their salaries is set out in the following table.

The 1st point of the Principal Officer (standard scale) in €75,647.

The salary cost for special advisors employed in my Department in 2012 was €581,236. The comparative full year figure for Special Advisors employed in this Department in 2010 was €1,072,920.

Position	Current Salary
Chief of Staff	€156,380
Special Adviser	€156,380
Special Adviser	€81,676
Special Adviser	€81,676
Special Adviser to the Chief Whip	€81,676

Programme for Government Implementation

Questions (129)

Billy Kelleher

Question:

129. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Taoiseach if he will provide, in tabular form, the commitments in the programme for Government within his remit; if the commitment has been met or is in the process of being met; the estimated time for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34687/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

The programme## for Government is a 5 year plan and progress is reported on an annual basis. The most recent report, published last March, sets out progress made right across all of Government in implementing these commitments. The timeline for delivery of the commitments is over the lifetime of the Government.

The following table outlines the current status of the PfG commitments which come under the remit of my Department.

The Programme for Government sets out an ambitious programme of Oireachtas and Constitutional reform.

A wide range of Dáil reform measures have already been introduced with plans to introduce further reforms over the coming months.

Following its inaugural meeting in 2012 the Constitutional Convention has considered a wide range of issues including reducing the voting age, the role of women, same-sex marriage and electoral reform.

Preparations are underway for a referendum on the abolition of the Seanad to be held this Autumn.

Commitment	Status
We will require Departments to publish Regulatory Impact Assessments before Government decisions are taken, thereby offering a further channel to obtain the views of civil society on new rules and regulations.	In Progress
Abolition of the Seanad	In Progress
We will establish a Constitutional Convention to consider comprehensive constitutional reform, with a brief to consider, as a whole or in sub-groups, and report within 12 months on the following: Review of our Dáil electoral system, Reducing the presidential term to 5 years and aligning it with the local and European elections, Provision for same-sex marriage, Amending the clause on women in the home and encourage greater participation of women in public life, Removing blasphemy from the Constitution, Possible reduction of the voting age, Other relevant constitutional amendments that may be recommended by the Convention.	In Progress
Reduce the number of committees and give key committees constitutional standing: the Dáil needs fewer but stronger committees, resourced properly.	Completed
We will introduce a role for the Ceann Comhairle in deciding whether a Minister has failed to provide reasonable information in response to a question	Completed
The chief executive of every state funded body will be required to attend the relevant Oireachtas committee on a regular basis to answer oral parliamentary questions that can be submitted by any member, on a similar basis to the attendance of Ministers before the full Dáil.	Action Required
We will amend Dáil standing orders to ensure that replies to written questions are furnished within a specified number of days, even during Dáil recess.	Action Required
To make the oral question process more effective, we propose to increase the time allocated to oral question. To provide balance, there will be a reduction in the number of oral questions being submitted to one per member.	In Progress
A member must be present in the chamber when his or her question is reached, although they may defer to another member the right to ask a supplementary question	In Progress
We will legislate on the issue of cabinet confidentiality.	Cabinet Confidentiality is provided for in Constitution
We propose an Investigations, Oversight and Petitions Committee of the Oireachtas. It would be a powerful committee, constructed on the lines of the Public Accounts Committee, bi-partisan in structure and chaired by a senior member of the opposition.	Completed
The Committee would receive parliamentary petitions from individuals and groups in the community seeking the redress of grievances connected with the public services of the State and with the public administration generally. Its functions would be to act as a "clearing house", directing complaints to those bodies most competent to act on them: the Ombudsman, the Data Protection Commissioner, the Local Government Auditor, the Oireachtas committee that has oversight of the relevant Department, and so on.	Completed
We will refer to the Constitutional Convention, the issue of reducing the Voting Age to 17 and giving citizens the right to vote at Irish embassies in the presidential election.	In Progress
We will ask the Constitutional Convention, which is examining electoral reform, to make recommendations as to how the number of women in politics can be increased.	Completed
We will introduce a new code of practice for the use of the government jet, ensuring transparent and cost effective travel.	Use of jet much reduced
We will give committees the power to introduce legislation, while a new 10 Minute Rule will allow backbench TDs to introduce their own Bills. We will also tackle the huge over-use of guillotines to ram through non-emergency legislation	In Progress
We will introduce a package of changes that will bring about a 50 per cent increase in Dáil sitting days. Dáil Éireann will in future meet four days a week. There will be a summer recess of just six weeks and significantly reduced breaks at Christmas and Easter. We will abandon the practice of providing a “mid-term break” – a full week off at St Patrick’s Day and Hallowe’en. When the Dáil is not in session the Committees shall agree by roster that a particular Committee shall meet in the Dáil Chamber.	In Progress
We propose to break the Government monopoly on legislation and the stranglehold over the business of the Dáil, by providing that the new Friday sittings will be given over exclusively to committee reports and private members' business except where urgent government business must be taken.	In progress
We will enhance the democratic process by involving public representatives at an earlier stage of the legislative process, particularly before Bills are published. We will amend cabinet procedure instructions so as to allow government to publish the general scheme of a Bill so that Oireachtas Committees can debate and hold hearings at an early stage.	Completed
While recognising that there may be exceptional circumstances in which debate may need to be concluded by a given deadline, we will restrict the use of guillotine motions and other procedural devices that prevent Bills from being fully debated, so that guillotining is not a matter of routine as it has become at present, particularly at the end of a session.	In Progress
We will also deal with the related problem of legislation being shunted through at high speed and will ensure that Dáil standing orders provide a minimum of two weeks between each stage of a Bill, except in exceptional circumstances.	Action Required
In order to enhance the role of the legislative committees, we will organise a committee week every fourth sitting week. The Dáil plenary will sit only for questions, including Leaders’ Questions and the order of business and the remainder of the day will be taken up in committee.	Action Required
We will establish a petition system to the Dáil, similar to that operating in the European Parliament, to be managed by a specific Dáil committee that will investigate and report on petitions which raise issues warranting attention.	Completed
We will enhance the parliamentary relationship with the European Parliament in conjunction with Ireland’s MEPs. These arrangements will include regular attendance by MEPs at relevant Dáil committees.	Completed
We will significantly revamp the adjournment debate format. It will be renamed the topical issue debate. There will be a minimum of 5 topical issues. These will be taken in the middle of the day and there will be provision for questions at the end. A Minister or Minister of State from the relevant Department will be present and there will be an end to the practice of one junior Minister reading out scripts on behalf of a number of Departments about a range of issues of which he or she knows nothing.	Completed
The standing orders on urgent issues are used regularly to attempt to raise issues that are not urgent and such requests are almost invariably refused. We will make the Dáil rules for raising urgent issues more meaningful by requiring a minimum number of signatories for such a request. In future, Standing Order 32 requests will not be read out.	Completed
The Taoiseach will be obliged to brief the Oireachtas prior to attending European Council meetings and to engage with the Oireachtas in debate on EU issues of national significance and concern.	Completed
The Oireachtas will devote a full week each year to debating major EU issues of concern to Ireland such as the Draft Annual Work Programme, Green and White Papers and proposals for EU budget co-ordination.	In Progress
The Oireachtas will be linked up with the Irish offices of the European Commission and the European Parliament in communicating Europe to the Irish people. Outreach programmes, meetings and competitions particularly in schools will be organised and TDs and Senators invited to participate.	In Progress
Under the Lisbon Treaty provisions the Oireachtas is entitled to receive all documents produced by the EU Commission at the same time as the EU institutions and the Irish Government receive them. We will ensure all EU documents are forwarded to the Oireachtas through the Ceann Comhairle and the Cathaoirleach. They will transmit them to the Oireachtas library and the relevant Committees. Every TD and Senator will be informed of the documents as they arrive, so that they can engage in EU matters that concern or interest them.	Completed
We propose that Oireachtas Committees will play the major role in scrutinising the EU in the coming years. Greater emphasis will be placed on deepening the involvement in EU matters of the Oireachtas committees that shadow the work of each Government Department. We will oblige all sectoral committees to deal with EU matters that come within their remit within a defined period of time.	Completed
Committees will be supplemented by a system of subcommittees and a system of rapporteurs who have a particular interest in an area of policy or scrutiny and who volunteer to carry out an in-depth study for the relevant committee.	In Progress
The Regulatory Impact Assessments prepared for Ministers on all EU Directives and significant Regulations will be forwarded automatically to the relevant sectoral Oireachtas Committees. These Committees should advise the Minister and the Joint Committee on European Affairs as to whether the transposition should take place by Statutory Instrument or by primary legislation. Where primary legislation is recommended the full Oireachtas plenary process should be followed.	In Progress
All Ministers will be obliged to appear before their respective Committees or before the Committee on European Affairs prior to travelling to Brussels for meetings of the Council where decisions are made.	Completed
We will reduce the size of the Department of the Taoiseach, transforming it into the equivalent of a Cabinet Office that oversees the delivery of a new Programme for Government.	Completed
Require Departments to carry out and publish Regulatory Impact Assessments before Government decisions are taken.	In Progress
Prioritise a programme of law reform arising out of the recommendations made by the Law Reform Commission.	In Progress
We are fully committed to the EU2020 strategy and its creation of employment and smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.	In Progress
We will commission an independent audit into the transposition and implementation of EU legislation, placing priority on laws and regulations that caused concern or deemed burdensome to Irish business. We will put in place a mechanism across Government to accelerate implementation of directives, involving relevant Departments and the Attorney’s Office.	In Progress
We will rationalise regulators to strengthen consumer regulation and promote the consumer interest.	In Progress

Consultancy Contracts Issues

Questions (130)

Billy Kelleher

Question:

130. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Taoiseach if he will detail, in tabular form, the names of all external public relations, communications consultants and organisations used by organisations or agencies within the remit of his Department since 9 March 2011; the details of the services supplied by each; the expenditure on each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34703/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

The following table provides details of all external public relations, communications consultants and organisations used by my Department since March 2011, the service provided and the total cost of each service.

Year	Supplier Name	Service Provided	Total Cost
2012	Caroline Erskine	EU Communication Advisory Service	€25,830
2013	Caroline Erskine	EU Communication Advisory Service	€35,593

Data Retention

Questions (131)

Stephen Donnelly

Question:

131. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Taoiseach further to Parliamentary Question No. 123 of 9 July 2013, the changes in the filing and retention of documents in his Department that have been introduced since this Government came into office. [34908/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

As I mentioned in my reply to Question No. 123 of 9 July 2013, all records and data, electronic and paper based, held in the Department are maintained in compliance with the provisions of the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003, the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003 and the National Archives Act 1986 and in compliance with the records management guidelines set out by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

I have made clear in the House before my concern at the paucity of documentation held in my Department relevant to the decisions taken by the previous Government in September 2008 and my determination to ensure that more comprehensive records are maintained in relation to future decisions taken by the Government on issues of significant national importance.

Departmental Websites

Questions (132)

Micheál Martin

Question:

132. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Taoiseach the reason his Department's website was changed; the person who undertook this work; the cost of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34914/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

My Department recently upgraded its website primarily because the version of the content management system on which the website is built had reached end of support. An upgrade was required to ensure that the website remains operational.

While carrying out the upgrade a number of other necessary changes were made.

- A new splash page was added to give users a choice of using the Irish or the English version of the site, a commitment in the Department's Official Languages Scheme;

- A cookies permission prompt was implemented to comply with the EU Cookies Directive;

- Some content restructuring took place to reflect organisational structure changes that have taken place in the Department; and

- the design was refreshed.

This work was carried out by pTools which is the company that originally built the website and who provide ongoing support for the website and the underlying content management system.

The total cost of the work done was €9,014.50 including VAT.

Departmental Legal Costs

Questions (133)

Niall Collins

Question:

133. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Taoiseach if he has sought and received legal advice outside the Office of the Attorney General; the number of times advice was sought per year in 2011, 2012 and to date in 2013; the costs of outside legal advice per year in 2011, 2012 and to date in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34989/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

My Department has not sought legal advice outside the Office of the Attorney General.

Official Travel

Questions (134)

Derek Nolan

Question:

134. Deputy Derek Nolan asked the Taoiseach if he is confident that all overseas travel undertaken by staff in State agencies is necessary; if the agencies ensure there is a robust business case submitted before travel is sanctioned; if the agency ensures the objective of the travel cannot be achieved through other means; if, on their return, the staff have to submit a report on the work carried out while they were on agency business overseas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35446/13]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

The National Economic and Social Council (NESC) is the only State agency under the aegis of my Department.

A limited amount of overseas travel is undertaken by staff of NESC. NESC has appropriate procedures in place governing travel by staff members. All travel undertaken is in accordance with these procedures and associated costs approved at the appropriate level.