The Deputy will be aware that, following the report by Mr. Sean Cromien on my Department's organisation, systems and staffing, a major programme of structural reform was commenced. There are a number of elements to this programme: the putting in place of a state examinations commission and a national council for special education and the transfer of the responsibility for the institutes of technology to the Higher Education Authority; the putting in place of a network of regional offices of the Department; new appeal processes to underpin the Department's allocation functions; a range of efficiency measures designed to bring the Department's procedures and processes more into line with modern administrative practice; and revised internal structures to enable overarching or cross sectoral issues to be better addressed.