John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 225: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of reports and task forces set up and commissioned in his Department in 2007, 2008 and 2009; the reason for each report; the number of reports completed; and the cost of each in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2628/10]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Foreign Affairs is responsible for two Votes – Vote 28 (Foreign Affairs) and Vote 29 (International Cooperation). The following tables set out, for both Votes, the details of reports commissioned by the Department in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and the costs in each case.

There were 4 reports on the EU which I requested the department to undertake prior to and post the Lisbon Treaty in 2009. I also requested a review on Irish Prisoners Abroad. All the other reports and those listed in Vote 29 were requested from various divisions in my department through Irish Aid.

Irish Aid (Ireland's official development assistance programme) occasionally commissions outside expertise where the specialised knowledge and/or skills are not available within the Department and where the effective management and evaluation of the programme necessitates the presence of such skills. During the course of their engagements these consultants/experts may prepare reports and other documentation. However, as they would not have been commissioned specifically to furnish a report, these details have not been included in the table.

One Task Force was established under the auspices of my Department in the period in question. The Hunger Task Force was established in 2007 following a recommendation of the September 2006 White Paper on Irish Aid. The aim of the Hunger Task Force was to identify the additional, appropriate and effective contributions that Ireland can make to international efforts to reduce hunger. The first meeting of the Hunger Task Force took place in Dublin on 14th September 2007. The Task Force reported in September 2008, and outlined a number of key actions which Ireland can take to give practical leadership internationally on the attainment of the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of those who suffer from hunger by 2015. The total cost of the Task Force was €301,991.

In addition, the Advisory Board for Irish Aid (ABIA) also commissioned research programmes as part of its remit to undertake policy relevant international research. In 2006/2007 two major research projects were commissioned, the first a three year project on Good Governance, Aid Modalities and Poverty Reduction conducted by ODI London at a cost of €486,038 and the second, a one year research programme by Oxford Policy Management at a total cost of €153,505. In 2008, a three year framework agreement was signed with the Institute for International Integration Studies (I IIS) at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) to undertake three research projects around Policy Coherence for Development. The total cost of the three projects is €301,889 and the Framework contract runs to 2010. No further research projects were commissioned in 2 009 or later.