Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 October 2017
558. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development the budget he has received to operate his Department for 2017; the expected budget for 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41422/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department of Rural and Community Development was established on 19 of July 2017, following the enactment of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 2017. Functions transferred include the Rural Division from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the Community Division from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and the Charities Regulatory Authority from the Department of Justice and Equality.
The Transfer of Functions Guidelines and Best Practice Handbook, issued by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, sets out the arrangements for the transfer of functions in situations where and entirely new Department is established.
This specifies a number of principles including that:
(i) staff working on the functions to be transferred should move with those functions;
(ii) finances, including pay, non-pay (administrative), and programme (current and capital), allocated in the Estimate to the functions to be transferred move with those functions;
(iii) the total staff and financial resources transferred to a new or receiving Department, including corporate resources, should be appropriate and proportionate to support the functions transferred.
The budget for 2017 and the revised estimate for the 2017 Vote is being finalised on this basis and will be brought before the Oireachtas for approval shortly. Discussions on the Department’s estimate for 2018 are ongoing.
