There has been no statutory delegation of functions to Minister of State Ring and therefore there are no legislative powers for which he has direct responsibility. However, after my appointment in 2011, I allocated Ministerial responsibilities internally within my Department to both Minister of State Ring and Minister of State Kelly. These allocations were not done on a statutory basis.
In the case of Minister of State Ring, I assigned him general responsibility for domestic tourism and sport with a particular focus on:
- Domestic tourism marketing and Home Holiday campaign
- Sports tourism events
- Cultural tourism, festivals and other tourism-generating events
- Sports Capital Programme and Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme
- Developing Sports Policy
- Engagement with Irish Sports Council and Local Sports Partnerships on promoting participation in sport, recreation and physical activity European agenda on sport, including attendance at Council of Sports Ministers.
The Assistant Secretary with responsibility for Tourism and Corporate Affairs and the Assistant Secretary with responsibility for Sport, Human Resources and Economic and Financial Evaluation along with the Principal Officers with responsibility for these sports and tourism functions within the Department report directly to the Minister of State in relation to those functions, as do the staff of his private office.