Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 186: To ask the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport that recommendations contained in the report of the special group on public service numbers and expenditure programmes that pertain to her Department; the detail of each and proposed savings relating to her Department; which of these have been implemented to date and the expected savings to be achieved on each of these in one calendar year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36987/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, as published in July 2009, made a number of recommendations in respect of my Department and the Agencies under its aegis. Specifically, the Special Group made proposals to reduce programme expenditure by almost €105 million in 2010 and to structurally reduce 170 staff across the department and its agencies. It also proposed that consideration should be given to the discontinuation of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism as a Department in its own right. The Group's recommendations are outlined in Detailed Paper no. 2 of the Report. The attached table outlines the recommendations and the annual saving identified by the Special Group in relation to my Department. It also outlines the savings that will be achieved in 2010 in relation to each of the proposals, which amounts to almost €30m. In addition to those outlined, further savings will be achieved in 2010 by reductions in allocations to various programmes across my Department which were not included in the Recommendations of the Special Group. In all, savings of more than €35 million, or almost 7 per cent, were achieved in the Revised Estimates for 2010 for the Department's Vote Group compared to 2009. Moreover, the Government's moratorium on staff recruitment and promotion and its incentivised early retirement scheme continue to achieve reductions in staff numbers across my Department and its Agencies.