Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 1: To ask the Taoiseach the total expenditure of his Department during 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2606/05]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 2: To ask the Taoiseach the expenditure of his Department for 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3697/05]

Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)
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Question 3: To ask the Taoiseach the expenditure of his Department during 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5702/05]

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Question 4: To ask the Taoiseach the total expenditure for his Department for 2004. [6515/05]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 4, inclusive, together.

The total expenditure of my Department in 2004 was €29,172,288, compared with a total Estimate provision of €37.5 million.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Taoiseach informed the House recently that the cost to his Department of the Moriarty tribunal in 2004 was €3.607 million. The tribunal was established in 1997 and, although it is now in its eighth year, there has not yet been an interim report. The Mahon tribunal, formerly known as the Flood tribunal, has produced four interim reports, thus keeping the public and the Administration up to date. However, we do not know the timescale for the Moriarty tribunal. Is the Taoiseach concerned about this? Has he determined when the tribunal will end? Are we to have a report indicating the progress that has been made? Given that the tribunal sits very infrequently, when does the Taoiseach believe Mr. Justice Moriarty will be able to bring his deliberations to a conclusion?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I answered questions on this matter last week. First, on the financial issue, expenditure of the tribunal in 2004 amounted to €3.6 million. I gave the full figures last week. In 2004 this subhead included a provision to meet the payment of legal costs arising from the award of costs to parties appearing before the tribunal, should its work be completed during the year. As the tribunal was still sitting at the end of the year these costs did not arise.

Before the former Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, left office, he spent a number of months working with the Attorney General to try to arrive at a final date for all the tribunals, particularly the Moriarty tribunal, so he could give additional resources while keeping the fees at a certain level. I am not sure if the Moriarty tribunal needed resources but some tribunals did to bring them to final dates. Those dates were agreed. If I recall correctly what I said last week, the Moriarty tribunal is due to finish in early 2006.

I have given dates on all the tribunals over the years and have been out by many years so I do not know when they will conclude. I am sure the new fee arrangement will come into effect if the tribunal is not finished by that date. That arrangement has been nailed down.

The Deputy's comment on interim and final reports is factual but I have no control over that.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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The expenditure for the Department of the Taoiseach for this year includes an estimate of €200,000 for the task force on citizenship. Will the Taoiseach expand on that and advise us exactly how those moneys will be spent? I note also €311,000 was spent on the Newfoundland-Labrador business partnerships in 2004 and the estimate for this year is €321,000. Will the Taoiseach explain the purpose of that expenditure and what return we receive for that?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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The task force on citizenship was one of the issues with which my Department dealt by co-ordinating the activity of various groups on the issues of citizenship. This fed into the social partnership model and into a wider model where detailed work was undertaken. I do not have a detailed briefing note on this but work has been ongoing in the Department with a broad spectrum of bodies and groups.

Ten years ago the then Taoiseach, Mr. John Bruton, established joint agreements with Newfoundland-Labrador in a number of areas. This was successful and was the one project which John Bruton asked me to follow up because he had put much personal work into it. Ireland has a long historic relationship with Newfoundland-Labrador but the relationship had not been developed. Mr. John Bruton formally set up this memorandum of understanding which has been updated twice since then.

It covers education, cultural issues, genealogy and family histories and several other streams as well as business. The latest event under the memorandum was a visit here late last year by the Prime Minister with a large trade delegation. Several of our Ministers have visited there in recent years. We have built co-operation on a historic base and it has been an excellent project.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Taoiseach please furnish a response on the task force given that he does not have the detail today?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will get that.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Taoiseach.

Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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Did the €29 million spent by the Taoiseach's Department include expenditure on the lawyers in the Moriarty tribunal? If top barristers were paid the same rate as labourers on Gama's construction site what would the saving be to his Department?

Rory O'Hanlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Ceann Comhairle)
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That question does not arise out of these four questions.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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The answer would be interesting all the same.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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It would take me a while to do the mathematics.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Under headings A5, A6 and A7 in the Taoiseach's accounts there seems to be an explosion of spending on office premises, which has increased by 119%, while spending on machinery and other office equipment is up55%. Can the Taoiseach recall what consultancy services caused an increase of 77%? Did Mr. Phil Flynn do any consultancy work for the Taoiseach's Department?

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I answered a written question on that recently. I do not think Mr. Flynn received any remuneration from my Department. He was chairman of the Government's decentralisation committee but that is not considered as consultancy work.

The expenditure on consultancy was €153,122 which was mainly on the employee opinion survey and professional services for a report on comparative international approaches to redress for customers of the Civil Service. Of that, €13,198 was spent on public relations.

Expenditure under A9, the EU Presidency, includes €158,280 on consultancy services. I do not have a breakdown of the figures for those contracts. The Presidency is one and the other is the employee opinion survey for the Civil Service redress system.

Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Will the Taoiseach comment on current and future spending levels for the National Economic and Social Council and the National Economic and Social Forum? There has been criticism recently that this is increasing but there is merit in increasing this funding, as both organisations do valuable work in assessing future trends and the direction of policy for the Government and those who aspire to be in Government.

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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A total of €1.032 million was provided for the National Economic and Social Development Office under subhead M of the Department's Vote. This office comprises the National Economic and Social Council and the National Economic and Social Forum to which the Deputy has referred. The primary role of these bodies is to facilitate and promote complementary programmes of research, analysis and discussion. They have a shared administration and submit reports to Government.

The National Economic and Social Council provides strategic economic reports looking forward in various areas of the agreed programme for Government. The National Social and Economic Forum looks at the social programme. Both bodies are representative of the social partners and of a broad spectrum of opinion, including independent and other members. From the point of the view of the State and value for money, having them together and with joint administration is practical. They do not take their direction from the Government but have a high level of independence in their analysis. The only report the Government requests is the analysis for each round of pay and economic agreements. Most of their other studies are based on the range of issues raised by their own members.