Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 9 together.

On 22 April 2009, the Government appointed Deputy Pat Carey as Government Chief Whip and Minister of State at my Department and at the Department of Defence; and Deputy Dick Roche as Minister of State at my Department and at the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for European affairs.

As Chief Whip, the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Carey, is primarily responsible for the organisation of Government business in the Dáil and for the Government's programme for Dáil reform. He also oversees the preparation of the Government's legislative programme. I have also assigned responsibility for the active citizenship initiative in my Department to the Minister of State, Deputy Carey. The role of the Minister of State will be to drive the initiative forward, oversee the implementation of the recommendations of the task force on active citizenship and, critically, promote the concept of active citizenship in all spheres of Irish life. The Minister of State, Deputy Carey, will be supported in this work by a steering group chaired by Ms Mary Davis. In addition, my statutory functions relating to the Central Statistics Office have been delegated to the Minister of State, Deputy Carey.

In my Department, the Minister of State, Deputy Dick Roche, chairs an interdepartmental co-ordinating committee on European Union affairs. The committee keeps under review and works to ensure coherence on the full range of issues on the EU's agenda. The committee has a particular focus on the correct and timely transposition of EU legislation.

In addition to these duties, the Minister of State, Deputy Roche, represents the Government at a wide range of EU and international meetings. He plays a central role in consolidating and further developing Ireland's bilateral relations with EU member states. He also plays a key role in communicating the importance of the European Union to Ireland and thus fostering enhanced public understanding of EU issues.

As always, questions on the functions of particular Ministers of State in other Departments should be tabled to the relevant Ministers.

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