Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 576: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of persons engaged in project management in his Department that have recognised qualifications in that area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2459/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The primary role of my Department is the provision of policy advice in the areas of fiscal planning, taxation and expenditure management, financial regulation, organisational change and public service modernisation, public service pay, social partnership and promoting the Government's programme of decentralisation. The management of the implementation of major capital projects is a matter for the Departments and Agencies directly involved. As indicated in the National Development Plan 2007-2013, Departments and Agencies will carry out spot checks to ensure compliance with the Value for Money requirements in the capital sanctions from my Department under the multi-annual capital envelopes framework. These checks will focus in particular on compliance with my Department's Capital Appraisal Guidelines. I have also recently established the Central Expenditure Evaluation Unit (CEEU) in my Department, one of whose functions is to carry out periodic reviews of spot-check reports received in my Department from Departments and Agencies.

In the course of their work, officials in my Department may be involved in the oversight of specific projects, or have some degree of involvement in the management of smaller, specific projects (for example, Information Technology projects which are applied across the civil service). Thirty nine members of staff my Department have undertaken formal training in project management, either through courses run through the Civil Service Training and Development Centre, or through other organisations such as the Institute of Pubic Administration and the Irish Management Institute. In addition, there are currently 107 officials of my Department who have obtained primary/masters degrees in economics, engineering and business related disciplines. A number of these qualifications would have included project management modules.