Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2017
389. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of full-time and part-time staff working directly on the environmental sustainability committee in his Department; the yearly running costs including staffing costs; the number of committee meetings held since it was established; and the current committee membership. [52782/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department provides the secretariat to the Environmental Sustainability Committee (ESC) as part of the work of the Climate Change and Bioenergy Policy Division.
The ESC is chaired by an official from my Department at senior management level. In total, eight Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) staff are represented on the Committee, drawing together expertise from across Department divisional work areas. Additionally, representatives of DAFM agencies ( Bord Bia and Teagasc) and from other Government Departments ( DPHLG/EPA, DCCAE) participate in the Committee alongside an external expert. The committee meets on an ongoing basis and not through a permanent cohort of staffing.
There have been seven meetings since the inception of the ESC. There were also two workshops held under the aegis of the ESC: a grassland workshop entitled The Role of Sustainable Grassland in Food Wise 2025, which was held in September 2017, and a workshop entitled Adaptation to Climate Change in the Agriculture and Forest Sector, which was held in November 2016.
