John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Question 244: To ask the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the number of bodies and agencies operated under the remit of his Department; the cost of each on a yearly basis; the name and number that have been abolished in the past four years; the name and number that have been amalgamated; the name of those to be abolished or amalgamated in 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2739/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Currently, the number of relevant bodies funded from my Department's Vote Group is 7. The following table lists the bodies in question, as well as the relevant funding allocations for 2009 as set out in the Revised Estimates Volume.

TABLE:

Bodies funded from Vote Group of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs 2009

* Allocation for Údarás na Gaeltachta – Administration

** Allocation for Dormant Accounts – Administration

*** An Coimisinéir Teanga is an independent statutory office

****Funding also provided by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, Northern Ireland

In relation to the other information requested by the Deputy, the position is as follows: In 2006, Arramara Teoranta, a commercial State body founded to utilise the large resource of seaweed along the west coast of Ireland, became a wholly owned subsidiary of Údarás na Gaeltachta.

In 2008, functions and funding for Bord na Leabhar Gaeilge, the former State Board established to promote writing and publishing in the Irish language, transferred to Foras na Gaeilge. In 2009, the functions, funding and staffing for Colmcille, a tripartite initiative established to develop stronger links between Gaelic speakers in Ireland and Scotland, transferred to Foras na Gaeilge. Also in 2009, the work of the National Drugs Strategy Team, a cross-sectoral team with representatives from relevant Government Departments and Agencies and the community and voluntary sectors, was subsumed into my Department in the context of National Drugs Strategy 2009 - 2016. The Government proposes to abolish the Dormant Accounts Board in 2010. Appropriate legislation is currently being prepared for this purpose.