My Department’s agency modernisation/rationalisation programme has seen a significant reduction in the number of agencies, with further reductions planned for 2015 with the dissolution of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. Details regarding the number of agencies under the aegis of my Department which have been merged or abolished and the associated savings are contained in the Report on the Implementation of the Agency Rationalisation Programme published by my colleague the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, available at http://per.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/Agency-rationalisation.pdf.
The most significant savings arising in the Department’s group of agencies flow from the reduction in staff numbers, which have fallen to 687 by Q3 2014, the latest date for which figures are available, as compared to a peak of 951 at the end of 2008 – a reduction of 261 (28%).