Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 3: To ask the Taoiseach the changes he plans to make to the roles and responsibilities of Ministers of State attached to his Department, arising from the recent Government decision; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15144/09]

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 4: To ask the Taoiseach the responsibilities of the Ministers of State appointed by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15561/09]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 5: To ask the Taoiseach the changes to the roles of Ministers of State appointed by him. [16425/09]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 to 5, inclusive, 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, 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 Deputy Pat Carey. The role of the Minister will be to drive the initiative forward, oversee the implementation of its recommendations and, critically, to promote the concept of active citizenship in all spheres of Irish life. The Minister of State will be supported in this work by a steering group chaired by Ms Mary Davis. My statutory functions relating to the Central Statistics Office have been delegated to the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Carey.

In my Department, the Minister of State, Deputy 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. The Minister of State, Deputy Roche, also 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, 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.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Were all the Ministers of State appointed given delegated functions by the Ministers in charge of their Departments, specifically in the Taoiseach's Department? Do both Ministers of State have delegated functions? I assume the Chief Whip does, as very obvious duties are assigned. In many other cases one gets the impression that Ministers of State are a bit aimless unless they have a nice senior Minister who allows them to do something. Otherwise they are condemned to the graveyard shift in the Dáil where they handle Adjournment debate matters when they come in and read out a script, which, normally, only a couple of people have the pleasure of hearing. It is the equivalent, in television terms, of being on "Oireachtas Report", if one were involved in its production. As a Minister of State, one ends up reading prepared scripts that one has not even seen before entering the Chamber. Are there delegated functions for all the Ministers of State recently appointed by the Taoiseach?

Is the Taoiseach concerned that, in the way the appointments of the new line up of Ministers of State was handled, the fallout was very destructive of the image of smart-----

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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This has nothing to do with the question, as the Deputy knows.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----Government in Ireland?

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Never mind that now.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The former Minister of State, Deputy John McGuinness, pointed to an appalling situation-----

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The question concerns the Ministers of State. The Deputy cannot ask about that.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----where the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government-----

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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You cannot ask questions that are irrelevant, Deputy Burton. You know that as well as I do.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, appeared to be unfit for purpose. Given that Deputy McGuinness has been on the Committee for Public Accounts for a long time and is somebody who knows a fair bit about the Comptroller and Auditor General's reports on inefficiencies in the public service, is the Taoiseach concerned that what he had to say simply confirmed fears that many people have that the Government and specific Ministers-----

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy is now out of order. Her question is out of order.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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-----are not fully in charge of their Departments in terms of meeting the challenges?

I ask, specifically, why the Chief Whip is also a Minister of State in the Department of Defence. We have a relatively small Army. Is it necessary to have a Minister of State in that Department, in addition to its redoubtable Minister for Defence? The reason has never been clear to me. Is it merely tradition?

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I hope the very low opinion Deputy Burton has of Ministers of State does not reflect her own experience when she was one. I would hate to think-----

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I always made sure to get delegation functions in writing.

John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Let the Taoiseach finish.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I would hate to think she had such a bad experience and that she was relegated merely to speaking at germane debates and felt excluded from the general workings of Government. It would be a great pity if that were the case. I hope it is not a reflection on her personal experience.

In the general workload of Government, the work of Ministers of State is substantive, namely, to be supportive of Ministers and work with them. There is no doubt that in the interaction of civil society with Departments and in the need to try to represent Departments at various meetings regarding policy formulation, in communicating strategy and listening to concerns at the most basic democratic level, all the Ministers of State are extremely busy people. It does no service to the profession to suggest that in some way their job is a sinecure with no substance at all.

With regard to the number of Ministers of State we now have I believe there is broad agreement that this number is appropriate in the present circumstances. That was the Deputy's own party's position so I presume she was not putting forward the idea there should be 15 Ministers of State who had nothing to do. That sort of gratuitous comment is unfortunate. It does not reflect very well on the profession nor is there any substance to the allegation. It is a sarcastic cynical view of what Ministers of State do.

The Ministers of State have been appointed and are settling into their Departments again. In due course the statutory delegated functions of Ministers of State will be brought to Cabinet in coming weeks for final approval.

Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I agree with Deputy Burton that it is necessary that Ministers of State be given designated functions. There is a need for a certain number of Ministers of State. I would argue that the necessary requirement could be dealt with by appointing 12. The Taoiseach made the reduction to 15.

Ministers of State are appointed by the Government and that is governed by legislation. Deputy Shatter produced a simple Bill by which, if the Government had adopted it, one might have enshrined in law the reduced number to 15, or, in my preference, to 12. Does the Taoiseach intend to give legislative effect to the decision to reduce the number of Ministers of State?

In his previous answer, the Taoiseach rightly referred to the necessity to make priorities where finite resources exist. One of the problems with Ministers of State is the number of public servants employed in their private and constituency offices. This appears to vary from office to office. Everybody understands that a Minister of State needs some assistance to do his or her political work. Has the Taoiseach set a limit on the number of public servants, paid for by the taxpayer, allowed to work in constituency and private offices? Is the figure two or three or am I to understand that individual Ministers of State have different numbers, because that seems to be a sore point with the public? While I fully respect that the Taoiseach is entitled to be able to service the needs, politically, of Ministers of State, when he speaks of finite resources I believe he should put a limit on this and let everybody know whether, for example, the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, has two people working for him in his constituency office. In the event, let us not hear that the next Minister of State has six people working for him or her paid for at the taxpayer's expense. Has the Taoiseach imposed a limit of two per Minister of State, and does the same apply to their private offices?

I believe the Minister of State, Deputy John Curran, deals with the question of integration, having replaced Deputy Conor Lenihan in that regard. It does not appear, however, that there is to be any Government policy on integration and Deputy Curran has said he will focus on the drugs question, which obviously is important. Equally, the sensitive question of integration is important. In appointing the Minister of State with responsibility for integration, will the Taoiseach comment on his responsibility to continue to build and develop a fair policy of integration both for the Irish and immigrants. He shall get some assistance in that regard from the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, who is handing it down now to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The whole idea of Question Time is to get accurate information. There is no better man to give accurate information on integration policy than the former Minister of State who has held that responsibility for a couple of years.

Out of the 15 Ministers of State appointed, six have a primary responsibility in respect of a substantial area of the work of key Departments, and will have significant policy and management responsibilities in that regard. Seven have responsibilities in respect of key cross-cutting issues, which require close co-ordination and, where appropriate, integration of policy and programmes across a number of Departments. Those functions can and will be supported by appropriate interdepartmental structures at official level to provide a streamlined and coherent delivery of the Government's policy in these areas. Finally, two Ministers of State, while having significant lead responsibilities in their own right, will also assist Ministers in the large and complex Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Education and Science.

As the Deputy knows, I have ensured that Ministers of State will carry out their responsibilities with a reduced support team. We have already taken steps to reduce by more than 10% the costs of running the offices of Ministers and Ministers of State. Each has his or her portfolio and represents a significant and clear management brief. Each represents a continuing and essential function of Government, which requires political attention. Each Minister of State has a significant dimension of Oireachtas engagement, providing support for Ministers in busy Departments in carrying out full departmental responsibilities in addition to any delegated duties he or she will have, and an increased number of portfolios. The Minister of State's office acts as a key point of co-ordination in respect of key policy objectives involving more than one Department.

These are the issues that arise as regards Ministers of State and we should get away from the idea that there is little or no work to be done. A great deal has to be done, and in my experience I believe each and every one of them is committed to doing the very best job he or she can do.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Taoiseach clarify which Minister or Minister of State is responsible for drugs policy and the implementation of the national drugs strategy? In his reshuffle of Ministers of State at the end of April, did the Taoiseach downgrade the focused ministerial drugs post from Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy to Minister of State with special responsibility for integration and community, with no reference to drugs in the title? The dilution of the post happened weeks prior to the demise of the national drugs strategy team, NDST, and the expiration of its staff contracts, which had been already decreed by Government.

Does the Taoiseach recall that the justification for the dissolution of the NDST was that a super-junior Minister with sole responsibility for drugs would be appointed? Instead, the post regressed to its pre-2007 unfocused status.

Alarming cases are daily described in the media of whole communities suffering at the hand of people in the, so called, drugs business. Dolphin's Barn is a very recent case in point. Does the Taoiseach not appreciate that against that backdrop, this decision is a worrying indicator of the Government's winding down of its previously stated commitment to press ahead with the implementation of the national drugs strategy and to combat head-on those responsible for the introduction and distribution of drugs throughout the country?

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I do not agree with Deputy Ó Caoláin. There is no question of downgrading the importance of dealing with the drugs issue. The Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Curran, continues to have that responsibility and has shown a strong commitment to the area and knowledge of it. He is trying to ensure that money gets to those who require services and he does so in a far tighter budgetary situation than in the past.

I do not agree with the Deputy's contention that the reorganisation of the responsibilities of Ministers of State was done with the intention of relegating the importance of the issue. The Deputy who had this responsibility before the changes retains it because he has my full confidence with regard to it. An interaction with him at Question Time and on other occasions will allow Deputy Ó Caoláin to dialogue with him on policy objectives and how he intends to implement them.