Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I asked the Minister of State earlier about the Department of Education and Science, which now has five Ministers of State. Five Ministers of State for one Minister represents a complex structure. Will we be given a flowchart to indicate how the various responsibilities will be executed? I do not understand why a Minister who is deemed to be competent should need five Ministers of State. Can we have some information on the designation of functions? Three other Departments — Health and Children, Justice, Equality and Law Reform and Enterprise, Trade and Employment — each have four Ministers of State. I understand this is unprecedented in the history of the State.

We have emphasised the need to specify the delegated functions. From those functions flow responsibilities and authority in regard to budgets and powers of decision-making. I also pointed out the case of the proposed Minister of State, Deputy Jimmy Devins, who will have responsibility in no less than four Departments. That barely leaves him time to visit one Department on each day of the working week. There must be clarification in this regard. Is this duplication a joke? Will the Minister of State demonstrate that it has some meaning and its implications for the various Departments?

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