Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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291. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if an assessment has been made of the amount of money that will be saved as a result of the dissolution of Forfás; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5553/14]

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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292. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amount that was spent on consultants' fees when assessing plans for the dissolution of Forfás; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5554/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 291 and 292 together.

As part of the Public Service Reform Plan, I undertook to review how the functions currently carried out by Forfás might be integrated with the resources of my Department in order to further enhance the formulation and implementation of national enterprise policy. Following consideration of the matter and engagement with the Board of Forfás, I decided, in May 2012, to proceed with the proposed integration.

This move forms part of a broader reform programme which I have been progressing across the Department and its Agencies, which includes:

- the merger of the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority;

- the reform of the 5 workplace relations bodies into two organisations;

- restructuring the enterprise support model for micro and small businesses, including the dissolution of the 35 CEBs and the creation of the new Local Enterprise Offices;

- restructuring transport and enterprise development bodies in the Shannon region.

The rationale for integrating Forfás into the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is to strengthen my Department’s capacity to develop and implement enterprise policy. The integration will, facilitate improvements in the use of existing resources against the backdrop of the moratorium on Public Sector recruitment. Some savings may arise when the integration process is complete, especially in the Corporate Services area. However, it is not possible to quantify these potential savings at this stage of the project.

I did not consider it necessary to engage external consultants to assist in the assessment of plans to integrate Forfás into the Department, or in the integration project itself, and accordingly no such related costs arose. The project has been managed by an Implementation Team chaired by my Department’s Secretary General and comprising representatives from Forfás, my own Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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293. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the steps that will be taken to safeguard the independent reporting process of Forfás when it moves to his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5555/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Forfás has been of enormous value to my Department and to the Government in the development of appropriate policy responses to the many enterprise and jobs-related challenges that have confronted the country, particularly throughout the economic crisis of the last few years. The overarching objective of integrating Forfás into my Department is to strengthen our capacity to develop and implement enterprise policy. Integrating Forfás in to the Department will streamline the process between policy development and its implementation, serving to strengthen my Department's role in driving economic recovery.

Forfás's policy and research functions will form the core of a new Strategic Policy Division in my Department. My objective is to maintain, within the Strategic Policy Division, the independent research and analysis that is associated with Forfás. There are precedents in the Civil Service for this type of independent analysis being conducted within a Department. Examples include the Structural Funds Evaluation Units which, in the 1990s, were established in the lead Departments responsible for the European Social Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and the European Agricultural funds. Although primarily staffed by civil servants, these units independently evaluated programmes and published their reports.

More recently, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Central Expenditure Evaluation Unit has produced a number of policy analysis papers, published on the stated understanding that they “do not necessarily represent the views of either the Minister or the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform.” I am confident, therefore, that the independent nature of Forfás’s analysis and reports will be maintained within my Department.

The capacity of Forfás to support independent advice and analysis will also be maintained through its support for the National Competitiveness Council (NCC), and the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs (EGFSN). The role of the NCC in the context of the Forfás integration has been carefully considered. Revised terms of reference have been approved for the NCC, which will give it greater flexibility to prepare and publish reports on issues it considers important, thereby copper-fastening its independence.

The EGFSN, which reports jointly to me and the Minister for Education and Skills, will continue to prepare independent policy papers on skills needs and labour market issues that impact on Ireland's enterprise and employment growth. As with the NCC, the EGFSN will be serviced by the Strategic Policy Division.