The processing of individual Parliamentary Questions is undertaken as part of the normal day to day work of individual Sections within my Department and no staff in my Department are assigned full time to deal with Parliamentary Questions.
The number and level of staff, and the time spent on individual replies, depends on the complexity and urgency of the issues raised, the ease of access to the required information, and the degree of cross-Divisional coordination required in preparing the reply.
Each Question may have input from staff within Sections, the Principal Officers and equivalents leading those sections, the relevant Assistant Secretary, the Secretary General and his office staff and the Minister and Ministers of State and staff in their offices. While information may have to be sought from external parties for the purposes of preparing replies, the preparation of all replies is managed by staff of the Department.
A breakdown of the numbers of Oral and Written Questions for 2016 and 2017 is available on page 57 of my Department's 2017 annual report, which can be accessed at the following link -
https://www.housing.gov.ie/search/archived/current/category/corporate/topic/0/topic/annual-report.
Information in regard to Questions processed to end November 2018 is set out below;
Parliamentary Questions to end November 2018
|
|
Questions Received
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3,438
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Questions Answered*
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3,157
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Question Type
|
|
Oral
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401
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Written
|
2,756
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* The remainder of questions were disallowed, withdrawn or transferred.
Questions are not referred to agencies under the aegis of my Department for direct reply as information in relation to such bodies is a matter for the individual bodies concerned. However, arrangements have been put in place by each agency to facilitate the provision of information directly to members of the Oireachtas. The contact email addresses for each agency, as set out below, are provided in response to Parliamentary Questions, where appropriate.
Agency
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Email address
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An Bord Pleanála
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Oireachtasqueries@pleanala.ie
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Ervia, Gas Networks Ireland
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oireachtas@ervia.ie
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Housing Sustainable Communities Agency
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publicreps@housingagency.ie
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Housing Finance Agency
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oireachtas.enquiries@hfa.ie
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Irish Water
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oireachtasmembers@water.ie
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Local Government Management Agency
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corporate@lgma.ie
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Ordnance Survey Ireland
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Oireachtas@osi.ie
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Property Registration Authority
|
reps@prai.ie
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Pyrite Resolution Board
|
oireachtasinfo@pyriteboard.ie
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Residential Tenancies Board
|
OireachtasMembersQueries@rtb.ie
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Valuation Office
|
oireachtas.enquiries@VALOFF.ie
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