Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 May 2016
113. Deputy Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the functions assigned to his Department that are due to be transferred to other Departments; the date the transfers will occur; the staffing arrangements for the change-over; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12471/16]
View answerResponsibility for environmental functions including in relation to climate, waste, resource efficiency, air quality and environmental radiation policies will transfer to the current Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources. Marine planning and foreshore functions will remain with my Department. In relation to the community portfolio, responsibility for, inter alia, the LEADER programme; the CLÁR programme; an expanded Town and Village Renewal Scheme; the Tidy Towns scheme; the Western Development Commission; the implementation of the report of the Commission on the Economic Development of Rural Areas; the dormant accounts fund; and social enterprise will rest with the current Department of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht.
Responsibility for the Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP) and other community-related functions including the PEACE programme; the scheme to support national organisations; support for volunteering; and the Forum on Philanthropy and Fundraising will remain with my Department.
The statutory transfer of functions process to give effect to these changes in respect of the environment and rural affairs portfolios is underway, with the aim of completing the transfers as soon as possible, guided by the Transfer of Functions Guidelines and Best Practice Handbook. The effective date of the transfers will be determined by Transfer of Functions Orders. Negotiations in relation to staffing arrangements are underway and will be finalised as part of the transfer of functions process.
