Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 139: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of reports commissioned by his Department by year since 2002 which have been published and made available to the public; the number that were conducted internally; the number that were carried out by consultants; what those reports were; the cost of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24291/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for two Votes, namely Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs) and Vote 29 (International Cooperation). Details of reports commissioned and published by the Department since 2002 are set out below.

Vote 28 — 1. Task Force on Policy Regarding Emigrants

The Task Force was established in December 2001 and reported in August 2002. The total cost of the project was €136,086, which covered research, travel and publication. Both Departmental officials and external experts contributed to the work of the Task Force. The research element of the report was carried out by Anglia Polytechnic University at a cost of €70,224.

2. Anglo Irish Issues

The British-Irish Council Report was published in July 2004. The report covers the work of the British-Irish Council from 1999 to December 2003. The report was prepared by the British-Irish Council Secretariat based in the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin and in the Department for Constitutional Affairs in London. The cost of publishing the report was €14,357.62 with the Department of Foreign Affairs contributing 50% (€7,178.81) and the British Government paying the remainder.

4. Council of Europe

Officials in the Department prepared Ireland's Second State Report under the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which was submitted to the Council in Strasbourg on 21 December, 2005. The report provides information on legislative and administrative measures in place to protect the rights of national minorities in Ireland, including the Traveller community.

There were no costs related to the production of the report itself. However, costs of €1,703.37 were incurred during the consultation process and were shared between this Department and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

5. Department of Foreign Affairs/Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Forum on Human Rights

The following reports were compiled by officials within the Department. The costs incurred relate to printing and publication costs.

6. Conflict Prevention

As part of preparations for Ireland's EU Presidency, the NGO International Alert/Saferworld was commissioned to produce a paper on conflict prevention. It received €10,000 for its work in preparing the paper, a copy of which can be found on International Alert's website, www.international-alert.org

The substantive work in preparing these reports was carried out internally by officials within the Department. Costs were incurred in the design and printing of the Reports.