Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 34: To ask the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport in view of the fact that the Report on the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes was published over a year ago, the efforts that have been made in the intervening time, to bring about the efficiency savings and to remove the duplication of services that the report identified in her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44022/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I would refer the Deputy to my reply to Priority Parliamentary Question No. 22 of today's date. The Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, published in July 2009, made a number of recommendations in respect of my Department and the agencies under its aegis.

Specifically, the recommendations of the Special Group included proposals to reduce programme expenditure by almost €105 million in 2010 and to structurally reduce 170 staff across the Department and its agencies. The Special Group's Report also proposed that consideration should be given to the discontinuation of the then Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism as a Department in it own right.

In responding to these challenging proposals, savings of more than €35 million were achieved in the Revised Estimates for 2010 for the Department's Vote Group, compared to 2009. In addition, 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.

In March 2010, the Government made structural re-alignments to a number of Departments of State. As part of these re-alignments, the former Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism was restructured as the current Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport, with an enhanced focus on maximising the benefits to Ireland, in financial and other terms, of both our tourism product and our cultural and sporting heritage. In addition, responsibility for the horse and greyhound racing industries was transferred to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.

In its preparations for Budget 2011, the Government has had regard to all possible measures to achieve the proposed budget adjustment of €6 billion, including the recommendations of the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes. As I have already said – while it is clearly not appropriate for me to reveal the details of what may be announced in Budget 2011 – my objective is to protect frontline programmes and services, remove any duplication of activities and ensure that an appropriate level of resources are provided to continue the successful development of the three important sectors for which I have responsibility.