Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 December 2013
277. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the total number of Irish quasi-autonomous NGOs that his Department either created or falls under his Department’s responsibility and was in existence when he became Minister and continues to exist to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55148/13]
View answer278. Deputy Lucinda Creighton asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the total number of chairpersons of State boards, agencies and regulators that fall under his Department’s responsibility that were chairpersons when he became Minister and continue to be chairpersons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55164/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 277 and 278 together.
In reference to the information sought by the Deputy in Parliamentary Question 277 I wish to inform the Deputy that my Department does not have responsibility for, or create, quasi autonomous NGO’s. The usual acronym for such bodies is the term "quango" which stands for "quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations". As the Deputy is asking whether my Department has any such bodies under its remit I can answer that there are no quasi autonomous NGO’s which fall under the remit of my Department.
In relation to Parliamentary Question 278 I am interpreting the Deputy’s question in a broad manner so as to provide the information which I believe she is seeking. In the context of the Deputy's question, State Agencies is taken to refer to statutory independent bodies, often (but not exclusively) with a Board which has governance oversight responsibility for an organisation. In this regard I have detailed below the sixteen agencies under my remit. An Garda Síochána; Courts Service; Equality Authority and Human Rights Commission (to be merged); Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission; Irish Film Classification Office; Insolvency Service of Ireland; Legal Aid Board; Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board; National Disability Authority; Office of the Data Protection Commissioner; Office of the Inspector of Prisons; Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner; Private Security Authority; Property Registration Authority (to be merged with the Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI) and Valuation Office); Property Services Regulatory Authority; Refugee Appeals Tribunal.
Many of the above bodies of course do not have Chairpersons. However, I can inform the Deputy that there are four chairpersons of State Boards, Agencies and Regulators who were chairpersons when I became Minister and still continue to be. Those details are provided below: Mental Health Review Board; National Disability Authority; Property Registration Authority; Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland.
Finally, as the Deputy is aware, the radical streamlining of State bodies is a key deliverable of the Public Service Reform Plan, published in November 2011. As part of the implementation of the Reform Plan, the Government announced on 31 October 2012 that it would proceed with the merger of the Property Registration Authority with the Valuation Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland. Work is underway to advance the implementation of the merger under the supervision of a Project Board comprised of senior officials from the three Government Departments concerned and the Chief Executive Officers of the three Agencies. The merger is expected to deliver considerable efficiencies and synergies.
