Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 120: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if he will provide additional information detailing the amount that was spent in preparation for Ireland's Presidency of the EU. [22528/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

A9 is a new subhead for 2012 to cover costs to my Department of our Presidency of the EU in 2013. The provision of €175,000 is made up of €137,000 for pay costs and €38,000 for non-pay costs. The pay provision is for additional full time and part-time staff for the Presidency, including two interns who are to take up duty in the Irish Permanent Representation in Brussels from July of this year and will be reporting to the Education Attaché. No expenditure has been incurred from this pay provision to date. The non-pay costs are mainly for Presidency-related foreign travel, associated with attendance at preparatory meetings with the Commission, Council Secretariat, Presidency Trio colleagues and other stakeholders, on which expenditure of some €7,000 has been incurred to date.

Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 121: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the changes resulting from the implementation of the Qualifications and Assurances Bill likely to lead to a reduction in current expenditure and the projected saving when the Bill is implemented. [22529/12]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

The National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI), the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC), and the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC) had a combined exchequer outturn for current expenditure of €12.935m in 2008, when the decision to amalgamate those agencies into a single qualifications and quality assurance body was announced. Their 2011 exchequer outturn for current expenditure amounted to €6.918m, a reduction since 2008 of 46.5%. Closer co-operation and sharing of resources in preparation for amalgamation has been one of the factors that has enabled the agencies absorb the reduced exchequer allocation.

The increase in the 2012 allocation for current expenditure over and above the outturn for 2011 is to meet unavoidable once-off costs arising from the amalgamation, in particular relating to accommodation and ICT. Overall, the annual savings directly attributable to amalgamation are expected to be in the order of €1 million. Some of these savings have already taken place, for example through the appointment of a single Chief Executive Officer for all of the agencies concerned, and further significant savings are being achieved through shared accommodation and corporate services.