Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 130: To ask the Minister for Finance the new skills and talent he has brought into his Department as committed to in the Programme for Government. [17386/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Mr. John Moran, who is on secondment to the Department from the Central Bank of Ireland, has been assigned to oversee the recently announced restructuring of the banking sector and associated issues. He leads the relevant team within the Department and reports directly to the Secretary General. Over time, a number of specialist staff have been recruited to supplement the in-house expertise of the Department in banking matters and I anticipate that more such staff will be required.

The Report of the Independent Review Group on "Strengthening the Capacity of the Department of Finance" has provided the Department with the opportunity to strengthen its core functions, to address organisational structures, to upgrade its budgetary and other processes and to increase staff with specialist economic and other disciplines, especially banking and financial markets.

I will therefore continue to review and add, where appropriate, to the banking and financial services expertise within the Department.