Vol. 523 No. 1
277 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of his Department which were established pursuant to statutory instrument; if he will give details of the statutory instrument in each case; if there are any proposals to have the body in question given a basis in statute as opposed to statutory instrument; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19662/00]
278 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of his Department which were established otherwise than pursuant to statute or statutory instrument; if there are any proposals to have the body in question given a statutory basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19677/00]
279 Mr. Quinn asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the committees, boards, companies or other bodies under the auspices of his Department which it is proposed to establish; if it is intended that each such body will have a statutory basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19692/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 277 to 279, inclusive, together.
There is one body under the auspices of my Department, The Ireland-United States Commission for Educational Exchange, the Fullbright Commission, which was established pursuant to statutory instrument. Another body, the Agency for Personal Services Overseas, APSO, was set up pursuant to statute.
There are five bodies under the aegis of my Department which were established otherwise than pursuant to statute or statutory instrument. These are: Irish Aid Advisory Committee, IAAC; the National Committee for Development Education, NCDE; The Refugee Agency; Cultural Relations Committee, CRC; and Joint Department of Foreign Affairs-NGO Standing Committee on Human Rights. There are no proposals to place any of these bodies on a statutory basis. The Refugee Agency will shortly be incorporated into the reception and integration agency which is being established under the auspices of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
My Department proposes establishing a task force on policy regarding emigrants to develop a coherent approach to emigrants and their needs. The task force will be representative of Government Departments and agencies in Ireland and of voluntary organisations here and in the USA and Britain. It will not have a statutory basis. Most of the preparatory work has been done and I intend to put specific proposals regarding terms of reference and membership to the Government in the next few weeks.
