Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 306: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the boards, bodies, authorities, agencies and quangos under the remit of his Department; the date of establishment; the number of members, staff and budget for each of the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21740/07]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 307: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the boards, bodies, authorities, agencies and quangos under the remit of his Department that have been abolished in the past ten years; the number of members, staff and budget in the year of abolition; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21755/07]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 306 and 307 together.

The Advisory Board for Irish Aid, which replaced the Irish Aid Advisory Committee (IAAC), was established in August 2002 to provide general oversight and advice to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of State for Overseas Development on the strategic direction of the Government's programme of assistance to developing countries. The principal expenditure of the Advisory Board relates to commissioning research.

The Development Education Advisory Committee (DEAC) was appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2003 following the recommendations of the Ireland Aid Review Committee. Its purpose is to advise the Minister, Minister of State and Irish Aid on policy regarding development education. It initially had 12 members but was expanded in 2005 to a 16 member committee. As an advisory body, the administration of DEAC is serviced by the Department of Foreign Affairs from the Department's overall budget.

The Díon Advisory Committee was set up in response to concern about the situation of Irish emigrants in Britain in 1984. The Committee advises the Government and makes recommendations on Emigrant Services funding to voluntary organisations that work with vulnerable Irish people resident in Britain. In February 2003, the Emigrant Services allocation (known as the Díon committee) was transferred to the Department of Foreign Affairs from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. There are 8 members of the Committee. The administration of the Committee is provided by our Embassy in London and financed within the Department's overall budget.

The Ireland — United States Commission for Educational Exchange (the Fulbright Commission) finances study, research, teaching and other educational activities between Ireland and the United States of America. The Fulbright Commission has eight members and enjoys autonomy of management and administration in accordance with the Educational Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America) Act, 1991. From 1997 until 2000 the Grant-in-Aid given to the Commission was £100,000 annually. In 2001 the annual Grant-in-Aid figure was increased to €254,000 per annum and has remained at this level since then.

The Hunger Task Force was recently established, in line with the recommendation of the White Paper on Overseas Development Assistance, to identify t he contributions that Ireland can make to international efforts to reduce hunger. The Task Force has been appointed for a period of six months, after which it will present a final report to the Minister of State with responsibility for Overseas Development. The Task Force has 16 members and had its first meeting on 14 September 2007. Its administration is serviced by the Department of Foreign Affairs and it has no distinct budget.

The following organisations have been abolished or replaced by other bodies.

The Irish Aid Advisory Committee (IAAC) was in existence between 1993 and 2002. Its purpose was to provide advice to the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the strategic direction of the Government's programme of assistance to developing countries. In 2002, the year it was replaced (as stated above) by the Advisory Board for Irish Aid, the IAAC had 14 Committee members, one member of staff and a budget of €507,895.

The Agency for Personal Service Overseas (APSO) was established by the Government in March 1974 to promote and sponsor temporary service in the developing countries of the world. The activities of APSO were formally integrated into the Development Cooperation Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs on 1 January 2004. In 2003, the year of abolition, the Board of Directors of APSO consisted of eleven members, with nineteen staff and a budget of €22,890,636.

The National Committee for Development Education (NCDE) was established in 1994 to promote development education throughout all sectors. It was abolished at the end of December 2002 following the recommendations of the 2002 Ireland Aid Review Committee. In 2002, the year of abolition, there were 13 appointed members of the Committee, a budget of € 2,708,375 and 6 staff members who were transferred to the new Development Education Unit within the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The Irish Refugee Agency was created in 1991 to assist with the integration of Vietnamese refugees in Ireland and it subsequently assisted with Bosnian and Kosovar refugees. In 2001, following the recommendations in the report of the Interdepartmental Group on the Integration of Refugees in Ireland , the Government decided to replace the existing structures for dealing with refugees (including the Refugee Agency) with the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) under the aegis of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. In 2001, the year of abolition, the Irish Refugee Agency had 13 board members. The Agency had a budgetary allocation of £150,000 for January-April 2001 and six staff members who were integrated integration into the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

The Cultural Relations Committee (CRC) was established in 1949 under the aegis of the then Department of External Affairs and was transferred from the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism in 2002. The Grant-in-Aid administered by the Committee for 2002 was €672,000. The role and function of the CRC was to advise the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the administration of the annual Grant-in-Aid voted by the Oireachtas for the development of cultural relations with other countries. There were 22 members of the Committee, with an increase to 25 members in 2002. Its administration was serviced by the Department of Foreign Affairs.