Vol. 463 No. 6
101 Mrs. O'Rourke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the name, location and number of staff employed in each agency, organisation or body under the aegis of his Department which has a responsibility in relation to job creation including tourism, enterprise promotion, community, rural or urban development and EU initiatives including disbursement of grant aid. [6937/96]
The only body under the aegis of the Office of the Tánaiste is the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF). The staff employed by the forum comprise one part-time chairperson to the forum, two chairpersons to its standing committees who are in receipt of an allowance, and six full time staff — four of whom are on secondment from the Civil Service and two who are on secondment from the Irish Productivity Centre.
The terms and reference of the NESF are to develop economic and social policy initiatives, particularly initiatives to combat unemployment, and to contribute to the formation of a national consensus on social and economic matters.
One of the primary objectives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and its missions abroad is to promote Irish economic interests abroad leading to creation, in Ireland. The Department actively supports the work of the State agencies directly involved in job creation. However, there are no organisations with a direct responsibility in this area under the aegis of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
