Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide details of the type and frequency of North South engagement his Department undertakes; the current priorities in this area; the number of whole time equivalent staff assigned to these matters; the grades involved and the amount of time each grade spends on North South Activities as a proportion of their WTE employment; the co-ordination arrangements that have been put in place; if there are any current vacancies in North South Co-operation unites; the duration of this vacancy and the steps being taken to fill the vacancy. [48544/12]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 170 of 24 October 2012, the number of staff who have been working on north south cooperation issues in each year since 2007; and the number currently working in this area. [48554/12]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 728 and 729 together.

My Department and I are directly involved in ongoing and frequent North South engagement up to a very high level. This involves regular contact with the Department of Environment in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the North South Joint Secretariat based in Armagh. This work is undertaken in the context of actively pursuing our priorities for advancing co-operation through the North South Ministerial Council in Environment and Agriculture formations, most recently at the meetings held on 31 October 2012.

Current priorities include:

- Co-ordinated implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive including preparation of River Basin Management Plans and programmes of measures for the protection and improvement of water quality. This work is brought forward by the North South Working Group on Water Quality.

- Sharing of information on waste policy development in each jurisdiction.

- Arrangements for the repatriation of waste which originated in this State but which was illegally disposed of in Northern Ireland.

- Joint approaches to environmental research and monitoring involving my Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.

- Co-operation on measures to examine the potential for the development of all-island markets for recyclable materials. A programme of work in this area is guided by the North South Market Development Steering Group with assistance from the Department’s Market Development Programme.

- Carrying out the Department’s role as Accountable Department under the PEACE 111 and Interreg IVA Programmes.

Engagement on the foregoing issues involves many officials in my Department at Assistant Secretary, Principal Officer, Assistant Principal Officer, Higher Executive Officer, Executive Officer and Clerical Officer levels spread across a number of business units. The degree of engagement by each individual or grade is determined by the frequency of Council meetings and the requirement to pursue our objectives through meetings of a number of North South working groups and committees.

The Department operates within the staffing levels set by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform through the implementation of the Employment Control Framework and the moratorium on filling of vacancies by recruitment or promotion. Nevertheless, I am satisfied that the business units concerned are adequately staffed to discharge their North South and other responsibilities.