Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 173: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will list the number of public bodies under his auspice in which members of the board, employees, staff and other persons are required to complete forms under the ethics in public office rules, framework and regulations; and the number of persons required to complete these forms in respect of each public body under his Department and including his Department. [2073/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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1Under the terms of the Ethics Acts, 1995 and 2001 all civil servants serving in a grade of which the maximum salary is not less than the maximum salary of a Principal Officer (General Service Grade) in the Civil Service are required to complete a return in the event they have an interest to declare. In addition to these posts the Department of Public Expenditure, with the assistance of other Government Departments, annually updates the "below PO level " positions of employment in Civil Service Departments and Offices that are to be prescribed as "designated positions" under the Ethics Acts. In this context S.I. No. 644/2011 — Ethics in Public Office (Designated Positions in Public Bodies) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 came into effect from 1st January 2012. There are currently in the region of 200 positions in my Department that come under the remit of the Ethics legislation.

I can confirm that the Ethics Legislation covers the bodies under the aegis of my Department listed below. The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, with the assistance of other Government Departments, annually updates: - the directorships and appropriate positions of employment in the wider public service that are prescribed as "designated directorships" and "designated positions" respectively; and - the bodies that are prescribed in the public interest as public bodies under subparagraph 1(13) of the First Schedule to the Ethics Act 1995.

In this context S.I. No. 707/2011 — Ethics in Public Office (Prescribed Public Bodies, Designated Directorships of Public Bodies and Designated Positions in Public Bodies) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 came into effect from 1st January 2012. There are currently in the region of 280 designated directorships and 90 designated positions of employment identified in this S.I. that relate to bodies currently under the aegis of my Department that come under the remit of the Ethics legislation. Bodies under the aegis of the Department of Education and Skills: - An Chomhairle um Oideachais Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta - Commission into Child Abuse - Education Finance Board - Foras Áiseanna Saothair - Further Education & Training Awards Council - Grangegorman Development Agency - Higher Education and Training Awards Council - Higher Education Authority - Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering & Technology - Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences - Léargas - The Exchange Bureau - National Centre for Guidance in Education (under Léargas entry) - National Council for Curriculum and Assessment - National Council for Special Education - National Qualifications Authority of Ireland - Residential Institutions Redress Board - Residential Institutions Review Committee - Skillnets Ltd - State Examinations Commission - The Teaching Council