Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 July 2014
223. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of agencies or State bodies under the aegis of her Department that have been abolished since 2011; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32238/14]
View answer224. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Education and Skills the number of new agencies or State bodies that have been established under the aegis of her Department since 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32253/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 223 and 224 together.
For the Deputy's information, under the Public Service Reform plan the following were identified for rationalisation or merger and 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). 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). 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. 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. Following the enactment of the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Act 2012, the necessary steps have been taken to dissolve the Education Finance Board in March 2013 and establish the Residential Institutions Statutory Fund Board (Cara Nua). 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.
