Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 539: To ask the Minister for Defence the measures that have been put in place to date with regard to rationalisation of the State bodies under his aegis listed in Appendix IIA of the Government statement on public service reform as announced on 17 November 2011. [4543/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Last year, the Government decided to transfer the functions of the Civil Defence Board back into the Department of Defence. A Bill is currently being drafted and it is anticipated that it will be published this year.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 540: To ask the Minister for Defence the assessment and reporting mechanism he has put in place to enable the Department to continually assess the business case for the State bodies under its aegis. [4558/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The bodies under the aegis of my Department are the Army Pensions Board, the Civil Defence Board and the Board of Coiste an Asgard. The Army Pensions Board is an independent statutory body whose main function is to investigate applications for pensions, allowances and gratuities from retired members of the Permanent Defence Force under the Army Pensions Acts. The Army Pensions Board does not determine or implement policy, and the operations of the Army Pensions Board are reviewed on an ongoing basis by the Department of Defence.

In July 2011, the Government approved a proposal to begin drafting legislation to transfer the functions of the Civil Defence Board back into the Department of Defence. The Heads of the Civil Defence (Repeal) Bill were subsequently agreed by Government in August 2011. The Bill is currently being drafted and it is anticipated that it will be published this year. If enacted, the Bill will repeal the Civil Defence Act, 2002, dissolve the Civil Defence Board and transfer its functions, property rights, liabilities and other responsibilities to the Department of Defence.

Coiste an Asgard was the company set up to manage the National Sail Training Scheme. In September 2008, the company's sail training vessel 'Asgard II' sank in the Bay of Biscay. In December 2009, the previous Government announced that the National Sail Training Scheme was to be discontinued as recommended in the Report of the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure, and as a result no funding was provided in 2010 or 2011. The Company has been inactive since and there are no crew or staff left on the payroll. The winding-up process is well advanced and it is expected that the Board will be dissolved shortly.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 541: To ask the Minister for Defence if he will outline the projected savings for each State agency to be rationalised as set out in the recent public service reform plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4565/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Last year, the Government decided to transfer the functions of the Civil Defence Board back into the Department of Defence. A Bill is currently being drafted and it is anticipated that it will be published this year. In terms of the potential savings to be made from the transfer of functions of the Civil Defence Board back to my Department, it is estimated that the savings in running costs would be at least €60,000 per annum. In addition, there would be an increase in the amount of time that staff assigned to Civil Defence can devote to its core functions.