Wednesday, 9 Jul 2014

Written Answers Nos. 365-378

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (365)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

365. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Defence if he will provide in tabular form the expected carryover of capital expenditure savings from 2014 into the next year. [30172/14]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

The 2014 gross capital expenditure allocation for Vote 36 (Defence) is €8.277m. Progress on capital projects is subject to ongoing review within the Department of Defence, and at this point it is projected that the 2014 capital allocation will be spent by year-end.

Question No. 366 answered with Question No. 364.

Departmental Staff Data

Questions (367)

Joe Higgins

Question:

367. Deputy Joe Higgins asked the Minister for Defence the number of public sector workers that are on temporary contracts or other non-permanent contracts of employment in his Department. [30398/14]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

My Department has engaged two persons to act as civilian drivers to the Minister of State, and these appointments are to temporary unestablished positions in the Civil Service on a fixed term contract basis. My Department has also seven civilian employees attached to military installations who are employed under temporary fixed term contracts.

Appointments to State Boards

Questions (368)

Seán Fleming

Question:

368. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Defence if he is concerned by the number of appointments to State boards under his remit that do not go through the Public Appointments Service; his plans to review the manner in which State boards are appointed to ensure that the most suitably qualified persons fill vacancies that arise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30801/14]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

The only State Board under the aegis of the Department of Defence is the Army Pensions Board. The Army Pensions Board is an independent statutory body established under the Army Pensions Act 1927. The main functions of the Board are to investigate applications for pensions, allowances and gratuities. The Act specifies that the Board shall consist of a chairman and two ordinary members. Under the Act, the two ordinary members must be qualified medical practitioners – one a civilian doctor and the other an officer of the Army Medical Corps. The chairman and the civilian doctor are appointed by the Minister for Defence with the concurrence of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The Army Medical Corps ordinary member is appointed by the Minister for Defence on the recommendation of the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces.

There have been two appointments to the Army Pensions Board since the Government took office. A serving officer was appointed to the position of Army Medical Corps member of the Board in December 2011, and a civilian doctor was appointed as ordinary member in November 2013. The civilian doctor vacancy was advertised on my Department’s website and the Public Appointments Service website. A number of expressions of interest in the position were received and an appointment to the Board was made on foot of this public advertisement process.

I am satisfied that the procedures in place for filling vacancies on the Army Pensions Board ensure that the most suitably qualified candidates are appointed.

State Bodies Data

Questions (369, 370, 372)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

369. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Defence if he will provide in tabular form the annual salary of the chief executive officers of all the commercial State companies under his remit. [30861/14]

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

370. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Defence if he will provide in tabular form a list of the annual salaries of the chief executive officers of all non-commercial State-sponsored bodies under his remit. [30889/14]

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

372. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Defence if he will provide in a tabular form a list of all non-commercial State-sponsored bodies under his remit. [30918/14]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

I propose to take Questions Nos. 369 , 370 and 372 together.

The only body under the aegis of my Department is the Army Pensions Board. The Army Pensions Board does not have a Chief Executive Officer. A member of staff of my Department is assigned to carry out the functions of Secretary to the Board. The holder of this position is an established civil servant.

Ministerial Advisers Remuneration

Questions (371)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

371. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Defence the annual saving to the Exchequer if the pay of all ministerial special advisers was capped in his Department at the first point of the principal officer grade. [30907/14]

Written answers

The Taoiseach

I have not appointed any special advisors in my role as Minister for Defence.

Question No. 372 answered with Question No. 369.

Suckler Welfare Scheme Payments

Questions (373)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

373. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a 2012 suckler cow welfare scheme payment for six calves will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Kerry. [29988/14]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The person named registered thirteen animals into the 2012 Suckler Cow Welfare Scheme. Payment has already issued in respect of seven animals born in 2012 on 17th December 2012.

During the validation process, errors were identified in respect of the remaining six animals. A letter issued to the person named advising him that the animals were not eligible for payment. However, the applicant satisfactorily dealt with the errors and they are now eligible for payment following the completion of a review carried out by my Department. Payment will be made on these six animals in the near future.

Dairy Equipment Scheme Applications

Questions (374)

Dan Neville

Question:

374. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if an application under the dairy equipment scheme will be reviewed in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Limerick; if an official in his Department will contact the person to discuss this in more detail. [30057/14]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The person concerned is an applicant under the TAMS Dairy Equipment Scheme. I am arranging for the grant application to be reviewed and, as part of this process, officials from my Department will contact the applicant concerned. The outcome of the review will be notified to the applicant as soon as possible.

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (375, 376)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

375. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide the annual saving to the Exchequer from a 20% reduction in all professional fees, including but not limited to legal, consultancy, IT-related, advisory, advertising and accountancy for his Department; and the company name and amount invoiced between 1 June 2013 and 31 May 2014. [30059/14]

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

376. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide in a tabular form a list of all professional fees for his Department, including but not limited to legal, consultancy, IT-related, advisory, advertising and accountancy; and the company name and amount invoiced between 1 June 2013 and 31 May 2014. [30074/14]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

I propose to take Questions Nos. 375 and 376 together.

The table details the companies who were paid in excess of €20,000 for professional services during the period 1 June 2013 to 31 May 2014. A reduction of 20% in professional fees would equate to a saving of €2.85m for the period in question.

In line with the Programme for Government, my Department publishes on its website details of payments for goods and services valued at more than €20,000 on an annual basis. This threshold has been used in the answer to this Parliamentary Question to be consistent with the Programme for Government commitment.

Company Name	Gross Payment amount
VERSION 1	2,437,732.71
SYSTEM DYNAMICS LTD	2,062,515.81
ACCENTURE	1,350,303.27
THE ICON GROUP	1,323,141.26
VANTAGE RESOURCES LTD	1,030,260.09
DELOITTE AND TOUCHE	604,802.80
IT ALLIANCE OUTSOURCING LTD	595,870.30
TEAGASC FOOD RESEARCH CENTRE	591,909.21
JANIX LIMITED	551,101.50
SMDT LTD	419,681.85
IT FORCE LTD	356,313.48
SMX CONSULTING LTD	355,517.71
SOGETI IRELAND LTD	221,713.47
IDENTIGEN LTD	221,290.17
E SPATIAL SOLUTIONS	213,558.75
SABEO TECHNOLOGIES LTD	196,269.00
IBM IRELAND LTD	149,379.53
PHILIP FARRELLY & CO. LTD	119,042.59
VISION TECHNOLOGY IRELAND	105,423.79
CPL SOLUTIONS LTD	98,621.40
FOIREANN B D S LTD	98,596.80
REMCO LTD	93,773.42
OVE ARUP & PARTNERS IRELAND	91,259.85
CTRL	86,788.80
COMPASS INFORMATICS LTD	84,947.49
MAZARS CONSULTING	83,394.00
FOREST ENV RES & SERV LTD	80,232.82
BEARINGPOINT IRELAND LTD	66,819.32
BIZMAPS LTD	62,555.78
RPS CONSULTING ENGINEERS	51,752.25
UCD SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE	49,175.71
WYG ENGINEERING (NI) LTD	48,607.96
MALACHY WALSH & PARTNERS	47,753.00
PP RYAN & CO SOLICITORS	41,197.00
PURSER TARLETON RUSSELL LTD	38,770.82
RIKILT	36,750.00
CLIENT SOLUTIONS LIMITED	35,670.16
RSM MCCLURE WATTERS	30,868.39
EOIN O'DRISCOLL	29,087.14
PHILIP LEE SOLICITORS	26,702.12
ORBIS LABSYSTEMS LTD	25,327.72
DANISH FORESTRY EXTENSION	23,221.09
Total	€14,237,700.33
Less 20%	€2,847,540.07

Departmental Staff Training

Questions (377)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

377. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide in tabular form a breakdown of all third level courses, training programmes and courses provided for employees of his Department, and the accompanying cost, for the 2013-14 academic year, from 1 September 2013 to the end of June 2014. [30089/14]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Details outlined in tables of Training Programmes and third level courses and costs for employees of Department for academic year 1 September 2013 to 30 June 2014.

Costings for courses completed between 1 September 2013 and 30 June 2014

Course Type	Course Title	Training Provider/Presenter Cost
General and	12th European Conference	€580.00
Agriculture	Administrative Law	Nil
related Training	AES Inspectorate Seminar	Nil
Courses	AES Organics Training	€120.00
-	Applied Work Practices & Procedures	Nil
-	Articulate Computer Training	€995.00
-	Biocide and Additive Training	€1,265.55
-	BTSF Seminar	Nil
-	Cert in Distilling Training	€3,604.31
-	Conflict Mgmt & Resolution	€28,160.00
-	CVRL Scientific Seminar	€1,092.62
-	District Veterinary Office Training	Nil
-	Effective Meetings	Nil
-	Emotional Intelligence	€2,480.00
-	ERAD Training	Nil
-	European Mycology Network	€200.00
-	Bridge Lifespan	€195.00
-	Genetically Modified Organism Training	Nil
-	Grassland Species Identification	€900.00
-	HR Communications Workshop	Nil
-	Integrated Controls Series	Nil
-	Food Safety (Ice Cream) Workshop	€675.00
-	ISO Laboratory Analytical	€300.00
-	Induction	Nil
-	Inspection Procedures for Feed	Nil
-	Internal Auditing Laboratories	€2,750.00
-	Specialist Internal Audit Training for Auditors	€5,505.00
-	Investigation Skills	Nil
-	Land Law & Legal Docs	Nil
-	Language Training	€10,394.50
-	Legal Services Short Courses	€5,305.00
-	Level 1 Management Training	€10,740.00
-	Level 2 Management	€10,298.00
-	Myers Briggs Type Indicator Training	€1,945.00
-	Mentor Mentee Training	Nil
-	Microsoft Computer Training	€6,760.00
-	Minute Taking	Nil
-	Misc. Conference/Seminar	€30,600.00
-	Negotiation Skills	€3,000.00
-	Policy Analysis	€2,320.00
-	Post-mortem Room Training	Nil
-	Poultry & Egg Inspectors Training	Nil
-	Presentation Skills	Nil
-	Project Management Course	€1,150.00
-	Quality Customer Service	Nil
-	Rendering Training	Nil
-	Report Writing	€950.00
-	Retirement Planning Course	€3,449.33
-	Pre Audit Seminar	Nil
-	Construction Products Regulation	€195.00
-	Tuber. Insp Training	Nil
-	Veterinary Public Health Seminar	Nil
-	Veterinary Public Health-Meat-Inspect	Nil
Specialised IT	IT Architects Training Course	€1,999.00
Training	AMD 200	€3,208.69
Courses	AMD 800	€3,208.69
-	SCM 515	€1,916.46
-	ADM 200	€3,116.01
-	ADM 800	€3,114.52
-	ISQTB Foundation level	€6,700.00
-	Web Development Training	€1,800.00
-	Implementing Cisco IP Routing	€3,790.00
-	GIS Training	€395.88
-	ITIL Service Operation	€1,090.00
-	Terminal Four Site Manager Advanced Web Developer	€2,000.00
IT Conferences	CIO Conference	€904.05
-	IT Public Sector Conference	€510.00
-	ICS Leaders Conference	€702.07
-	GIS Conference	€375.00
-	Data Protection Conference	€400.00
IT Subscriptions	Training Research Material	€116,227.31
-	Annual Membership Subscription	€1,500.00
-	Project Management Subscription	€2,200.00
-	Annual IVI Subscription	€6,150.00
Health and Safety	Health and Safety Training	€25,488.00
Third Level	-	-
Bachelor Degree	Business Studies	€10,840.00
-	Business Studies Open University	€3,113.20
-	Business Information Systems	€2,750.00
Certificate	Public Accountant	€2,834.00
-	Training & Education	€5,860.00
Degree	Applied Bio Science	€246.00
-	Biosciences & Biotechnology	€4,431.60
-	Exploring Science	€3,161.79
-	Health Science	€1,510.22
-	Human Resource Management	€5,000.00
-	Humanities	€1,650.00
-	Humanities - French Language	€529.13
-	Natural Science	€1,042.82
-	Rural Development	€3,352.00
-	Social Science	€3,440.00
-	Veterinary Epidemiology & Public Health	€10,032.56
-	Veterinary Medicine	€4,000.00
Diploma	Advanced Legislative Drafting	€4,500.00
-	Official Statistics	€2,900.00
-	Environmental Science & Social Policy	€900.00
-	Management	€1,990.00
-	Port Management	€3,617.61
-	Sustainable Agriculture & Rural Development	€3,600.00
-	Computer Studies	€6,140.00
-	Java Programming	€1,395.00
Dip & Degree	Law	€6,295.00
Doctorate	Governance	€30,000.00
-	Research	€2,940.00
Hons Degree	Economics Open University	€3,161.79
Masters	Agriculture Economics	€11,493.36
-	Applied eLearning	€2,875.00
-	Economics Science in Policy Analysis	€13,900.00
-	Environmental Sustainability	€833.25
-	Financial Management	€7,500.00
-	Science in Food Safety Management	€4,750.00
-	Meat Science & Technology	€2,050.91
MSc	Computer Science	€1,500.00
PhD	Science	€1,120.00
Qualification	Fellowship in Veterinary Pathology	€1,388.31
Various	Public Management	€49,230.00
-	Professional Accountant	€1,099.28
Accompanying	Room Hire	€40,047.40
Costs	-	-
-	Travel & Subsistence	€160,466.00
-	Total Expenditure	€752,211.22

N.B. Where there is a nil cost for Presenter/Tutor any associated costs are included in the 'Accompanying Costs' section above.

Departmental Staff Training

Questions (378)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

378. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide in tabular form the annual saving to the Exchequer from a reduction of 5%, 7%, 10%, 12%, 15%, 17% and 20%, respectively, in the staff training and development provision for his Department. [30104/14]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Total Savings for Training and Development in 2013 if they were reduced by the percentage indicated by the Deputy are as follows:

5% =	€48,050
7% =	€67,270
10% =	€96,100
12% =	€115,320
15% =	€144,150
17% =	€163,370
20% =	€192,200