Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)
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Question 52: To ask the Minister for Transport when the Commission on Taxi Regulation will be amalgamated into the National Transport Authority; if the staff at the taxi regulator will be transferred to the NTA; if the taxi regulator will report to the chief executive officer of the NTA; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26831/10]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The Public Transport Regulation Act 2009 provides for the dissolution of the Commission for Taxi Regulation and the transfer of staff and functions of the Commission to the National Transport Authority. I propose to make an order under section 31 of the Act towards the end of this year to give effect to such transfer. Section 39 provides that 'each person who, immediately before the dissolution day, was serving as a Commissioner for Taxi Regulation following his or her appointment under section 14 of the Act of 2003 and each person appointed under section 18 of the Act of 2003 to be a member of the staff of the Commission is, on that day, transferred to and becomes an employee of the Authority'.

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will provide details of the work of the high level group developing an implementation plan for the merger of the Railway Procurement Agency into the National Roads Authority; the annual saving that will be gained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26715/10]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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The merger of the National Roads Authority and Railway Procurement Authority is being examined as part of the ongoing implementation of the July 2009 Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers (the McCarthy Report). My Department has been examining the recommendation contained in the report in relation to the merger of the Railway Procurement Authority and National Roads Authority into a single entity. I have established a Steering Group and this group has had its introductory meeting. Pending completion of this work it is premature to estimate the annual savings, which may accrue from the merger.

However, the Government's continuing examination of all opportunities for rationalizing the numbers of State Agencies also forms part of the wider Government Agenda deriving from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development report on the public service. As such it is not focused simply on cost savings arising from such mergers but on the broader synergies that can flow from such a process.