Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 135: To ask the Taoiseach the organisations or authorities operating within his Department's policy area, set up by statute or statutory instrument, for which he does not have official responsibility to Dáil Éireann. [31119/07]

Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am officially responsible to Dáil Éireann for the general activities of my Department. However, there may be specific activities undertaken by officials of my Department for which I do not have official responsibility e.g. decisions made in relation to freedom of information applications. I account to the Dáil in a limited way in respect of a number of state offices, for example, the legal offices of the state and the Central Statistics Office. By and large, I answer questions in the House in relation to matters of administration connected with those offices. Similarly, the nature of my responsibility to the House in respect of any Tribunal, Commission or other independent inquiry established "under the aegis" of my Department is confined primarily to the arrangements relating to their establishment and ongoing administration. The specific nature of my accountability in respect of any body operating within my Department's policy area has long been established by precedent in each case.