Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 124: To ask the Minister for Transport the areas within his portfolio for which he has direct responsibility to the Dáil; the areas for which he has no responsibility to the Houses; the source of the funding provided overall; the person or body or agency responsible for providing such funds in respect of both; the person or group accountable and on what basis or circumstances; if he foresees any changes whereby all expenditure is accounted for by him in Dail Éireann or elsewhere; if it is his intention to devolve more budgetary or policy responsibility to bodies under his aegis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44645/10]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport I have overall responsibility for specified functions in the aviation, land transport and maritime sectors as determined by Government and the Oireachtas. A number of my responsibilities have been delegated to bodies under the aegis of my Department through enactments by the Oireachtas. The functions and accountabilities of these bodies are set out by statute in the Acts establishing those bodies and in any subsequent amending Acts. Exchequer funding is provided through the Department of Transport Vote to a number of these bodies for the purposes of providing transport infrastructure and services and in some cases to cover administration expenses.

The matter of devolving more responsibilities to State bodies is kept under ongoing review with the most recent being the transfer of additional functions from my Department to the National Transport Authority. In line with overall Government policy, a number of proposals for streamlining the delivery of State services by the merging of bodies or functions under my Department's remit are also under active consideration.