John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 42, 54 and 73 together.

The Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1993 under the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 and the range and complexity of the functions it discharges have increased significantly since then. The staffing, financial and other organisational resources available to the agency have expanded commensurate with its increased responsibilities. The agency's budget for 2007 is just over €52 million and this supports a staff of 295 following the sanction of an additional 40 posts in 2005. A major extension to the agency's headquarters in Wexford has also been approved. The staffing and other resources required by the EPA are kept under review by my Department, in consultation with the agency, particularly in the light of any additional functions the agency may be required to discharge.

The necessary staffing to deal with water management in river basin districts is drawn from the relevant local authorities and a co-ordination function is exercised by a designated co-ordinating local authority in each district. I am reviewing the overall employment position in the local government sector, having regard to the need to deliver frontline services and achieve value for money within the parameters of Government policy on public service employment generally. As part of this review my Department is consulting the Department of Finance on the current ceiling on local authority staff numbers, which I have just mentioned, including impacts in increased servicing requirements and other obligations in the local government sector.

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