Written Answers. - Departmental Agencies.
Gay Mitchell
Ceist:
93
Mr. G. Mitchell
asked the
Taoiseach
if he will list every State agency, company, board, group, committee, commission, inquiry or authority which was set up under the aegis of his Department; and if he will give a brief outline of the aims of each such body.
[9916/01]
A list of all the State agencies, companies, boards, groups, committees, commissions, inquiries or authorities under the aegis of my Department is below, together with a brief outline of their aims. The reply does not include internal or interdepartmental committees which are composed exclusively of civil servants.
The National Economic and Social Council, NESC, was established in November 1973. Its main tasks are to advise the Government on economic and social development policies. To date, the NESC has published over 100 reports on issues of economic and social policy, industrial policy, housing, social service priorities, agriculture, rural development and emigration. Since the mid-1980s, the council has published a number of strategy reports which have identified inter-related policy measures essential to economic development and the broadening of social inclusion. These reports have formed the basis for negotiation of the national agreements between the Government and the social partners since 1987.
The National Economic and Social Forum, NESF, was originally set up by the Government in 1993 for the purposes of achieving a wider national consensus on social and economic policy initiatives, particularly in relation to unemployment. The forum was reconstituted in 1998 and its remit is now: to monitor and analyse the implementation of specific measures and programmes identified, especially those concerned with the achievement of equality and social inclusion; to do so through consideration of reports prepared by teams comprising the social partners, with appropriate expertise and representatives of relevant Departments and agencies and its own secretariat; with reports to be published by the forum with such comments as may be considered appropriate; and to ensure that the teams compiling such reports take account of the experience of implementing bodies and customers-clients, including regional variations in such experience.
The role of the National Centre for Partnership, as described in Partnership 2000, was the promotion of a partnership approach in both the public and private sectors through the organisation and facilitation of seminars, workshops and training programmes. The Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, recognising the progress which has been made, proposed a new approach signalled by the new title and role for the National Centre for Partnership and Performance – NCPP. Following on from this agreement, the NCP ceased to exist with effect from 31 October 2000.
It is envisaged that the NCPP will work with IBEC and ICTU in supporting the deepening of partnership including through deliberation, consensus building and dissemination, monitoring, research, analysis, and training and facilitation. This will enable the centre to contribute more effectively to tackling the challenges of ensuring that enterprises, both public and private, are better equipped to adapt to change, including new forms of work organisation, underpinned by effective arrangements of lifelong learning. Preparations for the establishment of the NCPP are well under way. Mr. Peter Cassells has been appointed to the post of executive chairman of the NCPP and is due to take up the post in July. Interviews for the post of the director of the NCPP were undertaken by the Office of the Civil Service and Local Appointments Commissioners on 12 March last and it is expected that an appointment will be made shortly.
Established formally on 20 October, 1975 under the Law Reform Commission Act, 1975, the Law Reform Commission – LRC – is an independent statutory body corporate. Its duty is to keep the national law of the State under review and, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, to undertake examinations and conduct research with a view to reforming the law and to formulate proposals for law reform. The Commission also examines a particular branch or matter of law when requested to do so by the Attorney General.
On 1 July 1997 the Government established a legislation committee comprising the Government Chief Whip – chair, the Attorney General, the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, programme manager to the Taoiseach, programme manager to the Tánaiste, the Leader of the Seanad and a representative from the Department of the Taoiseach. The purpose of the committee is to progress the Government's legislation programme through the identification of any blockages which might occur. Prior to the establishment of this committee there was no formal overall co-ordination of the legislative process.
The Central Statistics Office – CSO – was established as a statutory body in the Civil Service under the authority of the Taoiseach by the Statistics Act, 1993. The office collects, compiles and analyses economic and social statistical information. It is also responsible for co-ordinating official statistics produced by other public authorities and for developing the statistical potential of administrative records.
The National Statistics Board has operated from February 1986 and was placed on a statutory basis on 1 November 1994 under the Statistics Act, 1993. Its function is to guide the strategic direction of the Central Statistics Office, including establishing priorities for the compilation and development of official statistics.
The National Millennium Committee was established by the Government in November, 1998 to advise it on suitable projects for inclusion in its millennium programme, 1999-2000, and also on a system for supporting commemorative events at local, community, county and regional levels. The overall aim of the millennium programme was to mark the millennium in a dignified, meaningful and lasting manner and in doing so to ensure maximum public participation and to reflect the aspirations of the population.
The board of MediaLabEurope is responsible for the operation of MediaLabEurope which is a third level research facility which focuses on multimedia, digital content and Internet technologies and which represents a partnership between the Government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The board of Digital Media Development Ltd. is responsible for the development of the digital hub which will be a purpose built environment for digital industries.
The Information Society Commission was established by Government in May, 1997. Its key role was to shape a public policy framework for the evolving information society in Ireland. The commission's term of office finished at the end of 2000, following publication of its third report. A new information society commission will be appointed by Government shortly.
The groups IFSC Clearing House Group and its sub-groups, IFSC Banking and Treasury Group, IFSC Funds Management Group and IFSC Insurance Group include members of the relevant Industry sectors and Government Departments, agencies and bodies. The purpose of the groups is to discuss issues of interest to the IFSC and the industry and to increase its competitiveness.
The terms of reference of the commission of inquiry into the Dublin-Monaghan and Dundalk bombings are to undertake a thorough examination, involving fact finding and assessment, of all aspects of the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and their sequel, including: the facts, circumstances, causes and perpetrators of the bombings; the nature, extent and adequacy of Garda investigation, including the adequacy of co-operation with and from the relevant authorities in Northern Ireland and the adequacy of the handling of scientific analyses of forensic evidence; the reasons why no prosecution took place, including whether and if so, by whom and to what extent the investigations were impeded; and the issues raised by the "Hidden Hand" television documentary broadcast in 1993. The Dublin-Monaghan bombings refer to the bomb explosions that took place in Parnell Street, Talbot Street and South Leinster Street, Dublin, on 17 May, 1974 and the bomb explosion in North Street, Monaghan, on 17 May, 1974.
The terms of reference of the Commission of Inquiry into the Dundalk bombing are to undertake a thorough examination, involving fact finding and assessment, of all aspects of the Dundalk bombing and its sequel, including the facts and circumstances of, and the background to, the bombing, having regard to the Garda investigation of the bombing, including the co-operation with and from the relevant authorities in Northern Ireland. The Dundalk bombing refers to the bomb explosion that took place in Dundalk on 19 December, 1975.
The Quality Customer Service Working Group was set up in late 1999. The group is chaired by Mr. Dermot Quigley, Chairman of the Revenue Commissioners, and its membership includes representation from a number of Departments and offices, Civil Service unions, and business, consumer and equality interests. The QCS working group is charged with progressing the QCS agenda with a view to achieving continuous improvement in customer service by the civil and public service. To date the group has met nine times since 1999.
Partnership 2000 for inclusion, employment and competitiveness provided that:
"A further independent appraisal of the concept of, and full implications of, a basic income payment for all citizens will be undertaken, taking into account the work of the ESRI, CORI and the Expert Steering group on the Integration of Tax and Social Welfare and the international research. A broadly based steering group will oversee the study". In pursuance of this commitment a steering group was established under the aegis of this Department. It was not the role of the group to reach a conclusion or make recommendations about basic income. The group commissioned studies from two consultants, which were carried out in two separate phases. Phase I examined the first round or static effects of the introduction of a basic income system in Ireland, while Phase II was designed to take account of the dynamic effects and the long-term sustainability of a basic income scheme, from a broad economic and social perspective. The report of the steering group was published on 2 March, 2001.
