I propose to take Questions Nos. 1316 and 1355 together.
Legislation governing amendments and additions to the social welfare code are drafted by my Department's legislation unit, in consultation with the Parliamentary Counsel from the Office of the Attorney General. Since the formation of the 29th Dáil in 2002, no legislation, governing functions for which I have responsibility, has been drafted by agents outside my Department.
However, due to the technical and specialist nature of pensions legislation, there is an on-going agreement between my Department and the Office of the Attorney General to the out-sourcing of certain work in this area. This was the approach taken in the preparation of the Pensions (Amendment) Act 2002. As part of that process, outline draft legislation was produced and was submitted in the normal way to the Office of the Attorney General for drafting.
At this time I have no intention to use external bodies to draft future legislation. However, should the need arise to engage external expertise where the legislation required is of a particularly technical and specialist nature, I will seek the most effective and efficient means of doing so.