Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is money that was already allocated to my Department. There was a partial transfer of responsibilities when the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, set up his new Government. Some responsibilities were transferred to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. As I stated, 14 members of staff were transferred there. That is why the pay costs and non-pay costs have come into play. The €1.5 million has been transferred to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection, obviously to make that Department more effective. As I stated, it has responsibility for policy. We have responsibility for enforcement, the Labour Court and the Workplace Relations Commission. The 14 staff who were transferred included principal officers, assistant principal officers, higher executive officers, administrative officers, an executive officer and clerical officers.

The full schedule of employment rights Acts has been transferred also. That is in the committee’s schedule.