Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 February 2014
274. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will list any new organisations or agencies established in his Department since 9 March 2011; the role and functions and the annual operating budget for these organisations and agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7942/14]
View answerFor the Deputies information no new agencies were established by my Department since March 2011, however under the Public Service Reform plan, the following were identified for rationalisation or merger and since March 2011 the following actions have taken place. The Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology and Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences were merged in March 2012 to form the Irish Research Council (IRC). The IRC has been established as a sub-board of the Higher Education Authority (HEA). http://www.irc.ie. Under the provisions of the Qualifications and Quality Assurance (Education and Training) Act 2012, the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI), the Higher Education Training Awards Council (HETAC) and the Further Education Training Awards Council (FETAC) were amalgamated to form a new agency, the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) on the 6th November, 2012. http://www.qqi.ie. Under the provisions of the Education and Training Boards Act 2013 the Vocational Education Committee (VEC) system was reconfigured, with the number of further education bodies being reduced from 33 to 16. In addition, under the provisions of the Further Education and Training Act 2013 FÁS was dissolved in October 2013, with a new training authority, An tSeirbhís Oideachais Leanúnaigh agus Scileanna (SOLAS) being created with responsibility for funding, planning and co-ordinating training and further education programmes. http://www.solas.ie. Following the enactment of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012, the Education Finance Board was dissolved and in March 2013 and establish the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (CaraNua). This body will be funded from the contributions of the religious congregations offered in response to the request for additional contributions, following the publication of the Ryan Report. http://www.caranua.ie. The Deputy will be aware that information on budgets is available in annual reports and other documents published by the agencies above and the role and functions are set out on the websites.
