Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I want to pursue the Taoiseach on some of the information he has given to the House. Have the Taoiseach and his Department formed a finalised view on the implementation of the recommendations in the report of an bord snip nua that apply to the Department? Given that four months have passed since the publication of the report, I presume its recommendations have been assessed. It is a "chicken and egg" scenario, in the sense that it is not entirely clear whether the report of an bord snip nua reflects what the Department wants to do, or whether it is the other way around. I assume the Taoiseach and his Department have formed a definitive view on which of the recommendations will be implemented. The Taoiseach indicated some direction of thinking in the case of some of the bodies with regard to 2010. He mentioned that the Ireland Newfoundland Partnership will be discontinued in 2010. He referred to the National Forum on Europe, which has already been discontinued. However, he did not comment on a number of other bodies under the aegis of the Department of the Taoiseach, which were referred to in the report of an bord snip nua, including the National Economic and Social Forum and various partnership bodies. What is the Taoiseach's intention regarding those bodies in 2010?

The Taoiseach referred to a 10% reduction in staff in his Department. The reduction recommended in the report of an bord snip nua appears to be higher than this. It refers to a reduction of 36 out of 237 staff in the Department of the Taoiseach and a total of 77 for the entire range of Departments and agencies under his remit. Do I take it from what the Taoiseach is saying that the staff reductions will be lower than recommended in the report of an bord snip nua?

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