Results 4,581-4,600 of 4,893 for speaker:Séamus Brennan

Written Answers — Departmental Records: Departmental Records (18 Dec 2007)

Séamus Brennan: My Department's headquarters is in Kildare Street, Dublin 2. I am in regular attendance at my office there, which is recorded in my official diary.

Written Answers — Departmental Staff: Departmental Staff (19 Dec 2007)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 242 and 243 together. The information set out as follows refers to all posts filled in my Department during the last five years and include all posts filled by open recruitment, promotion, transfers in respect of decentralisation, staff returning from career breaks, etc. Year Total Number of Posts filled in year 2003 25 2004 16 2005 23 2006 70 2007 45...

Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (19 Dec 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The Arts Council has presented me with a copy of this report and I have studied its contents. I am currently considering the proposals further and will be discussing them with my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, and with the Arts Council in due course. In the meantime, my officials have already had bilateral discussions with the Department of Education and Science and the...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (19 Dec 2007)

Séamus Brennan: The budgetary information in respect of the Agencies operating under the aegis of my Department is set out in my Department's Estimates, which are published annually as part of the Estimates Volumes. The Estimate Volumes are available on the Department of Finance website www.finance.gov.ie. Subhead D3 of the Department's Vote aggregates the Estimates provision for the Irish Museum of Modern...

Written Answers — Ministerial Appointments: Ministerial Appointments (19 Dec 2007)

Séamus Brennan: As the Deputy is aware I took office at my Department in June 2007. Since then, in addition to the policy and administrative advice I have taken from my Department, I have taken into consideration the advice of my special adviser and press adviser on a broad range of issues including capital expenditure projects. I also discuss policy and administrative matters with representatives of the...

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (19 Dec 2007)

Séamus Brennan: Under the Government's Decentralisation Programme, the number of civil servants who have transferred from Dublin to my Department's decentralised office at Fossa, Killarney, Co Kerry currently stands at 24. The number of civil servants who have transferred from locations outside of Dublin, i.e. provincial locations, to my Department's temporary accommodation at Fossa currently stands at 46....

Written Answers — Decentralisation Programme: Decentralisation Programme (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: A total of 200 posts in Fáilte Ireland, one of the State Agencies under the aegis of my Department, were designated for transfer to Mallow under the Government's Programme of Decentralisation. In June 2004, a Decentralisation Implementation Plan was prepared by Fáilte Ireland and submitted to the Decentralisation Implementation Group (DIG). Following a recent meeting with the DIG, Fáilte...

Written Answers — Swimming Pool Projects: Swimming Pool Projects (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: Under the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme there are four principal stages in a swimming pool project which are: Feasibility Study/Preliminary Report; Contract Documents; Tender and Construction. My Department approved the Preliminary Report for the Ballybofey / Stranorlar Swimming Pool Project in May 2007, allowing Donegal County Council to move on to the next stage which is the...

Written Answers — Arts Funding: Arts Funding (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 699 and 700 together. In Budget 2008 my Department was directly allocated €208.457m for Arts and Culture purposes. These funds are allocated under subheads D.1 to D.10 of my Department's vote (35), indicating the distribution of this funding as between the agencies, cultural institutions and other areas of my Department's responsibility for 2008. Vote 33...

Written Answers — Judicial Reviews: Judicial Reviews (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 701 and 702 together. Since its establishment in 2002 there have been no applications nor have costs or damages been paid in relation to judicial reviews for which my Department is responsible.

Written Answers — Legislative Programme: Legislative Programme (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: The Houses of the Oireachtas have passed three pieces of legislation sponsored by my Department since 2003. The Arts Act and the National Tourism Development Authority Act were both passed in 2003 and the National Sports Campus Development Authority Act in 2006. None of these had any significant reference to EU legislation.

Written Answers — Arts Funding: Arts Funding (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: Projects of the type referred to by the Deputy are normally considered under my Department's Arts and Culture Capital Enhancement Support Scheme (ACCESS). The ACCESS scheme is designed to assist in the provision of high standard arts and culture infrastructure, thereby enhancing access to the arts throughout the country. ACCESS has been widely acknowledged as a significant intervention in...

Written Answers — Departmental Properties: Departmental Properties (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: In four of the six years referred to by the Deputy, no data devices were either lost or stolen from my Department. In 2006, in separate instances, one blackberry was lost, one desktop computer stolen and one laptop stolen, in 2007 one blackberry was lost, none of which were recovered. None of the devices in question held sensitive or personal information. Neither sensitive nor personal...

Written Answers — Data Protection: Data Protection (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: My Department's IT Network is part of the Government Virtual Private Network (VPN) and, as such, is initially protected against intrusion by the VPN firewall. Beyond this level the network is also protected by the Department's own firewall system. This extensive firewall security blocks in the regions of 70,000 items of data traffic daily. A log is kept by this system of intrusion attempts...

Written Answers — Horseracing Industry: Horseracing Industry (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: I understand that Horse Racing Ireland expect to present their new strategic plan, for the period 2008-2012, to me during the first quarter of this year. Implementation of the strategy is of course the responsibility of Horse Racing Ireland. Officials from my Department will monitor that implementation on an ongoing basis. Funding towards implementation of the plan shall be provided from...

Written Answers — Horseracing Industry: Horseracing Industry (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: I propose to take Questions Nos. 708 to 710, inclusive, together. The percentage of total Exchequer funding for the horse racing industry (i.e. from the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund) generated from off-course betting in 2006 was 77.4 % and in 2007 is estimated to be 49.7 %, with the balance being made up by the Exchequer in 2006 of 22.6 % and an estimated 50.3% in 2007. It should be noted...

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: The information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following table. Year Total Expenditure â'¬ 2002 1,136 2003 10,793 2004 10,483 2005 15,018 2006 20,634 2007 22,137 The National Museum and National Library were part of my Department until May 2005 when they were established as separate entities but the expenditure by those bodies, if any, in that period is not available in...

Written Answers — Data Protection: Data Protection (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: There are no instances of any personal data held by my Department or by the National Archives, which is part of the Department, being compromised in the period since 1 June 2002 to date. My Department has a range of measures in place to ensure that access to personal data held in electronic format, or hard copy, is limited only to those staff authorised to carry out duties in relation to...

Written Answers — Sports Funding: Sports Funding (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: The Irish Sports Council, which is funded by my Department, works in partnership with the Irish Institute of Sport, the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), the Paralympic Council of Ireland (PCI) and the relevant governing bodies of sport in the preparation and participation of Irish competitors at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Significant progress has been made to date by all the agencies...

Written Answers — Sports Capital Programme: Sports Capital Programme (30 Jan 2008)

Séamus Brennan: Under the Sports Capital Programme, which is administered by my Department, funding is allocated to sporting and community organisations at local, regional and national level throughout the country. The 2008 programme was advertised on 13th and 14th of January and the deadline for receipt of applications is 29th February for paper-based applications and 7th March for on-line applications....