Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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165. To ask the Minister for Finance if the Secretary General of his Department, for the purpose of transparency and accountability, will publish their diary on their website on a monthly basis. [19964/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As Minister for Finance, I am very conscious of the importance of effectively communicating information about the Department’s activities and of improving levels of transparency and accountability. Transparency is one of the guiding principles as set out in our revised Statement of Strategy. With this in mind, the Department has already published the Secretary General’s diary on a monthly basis from March 2012 and we intend to continue with this initiative. Details of the diary are available on the Department’s website. The Department also recognises the need for a strong governance framework in order to support and monitor our performance objectives. During 2012, a number of changes to the governance structures was introduced which I continue to review and improve.

For example, the Department modernised the Management Advisory Committee (MAC) process with one in-depth monthly management meeting and three shorter focused meetings on the week’s events. In addition, four new subcommittees of the MAC were established. The Risk, Policy, Transformation and People and Culture subcommittee meetings allow for great in-depth analysis than could occur during MAC meetings. These are chaired by senior MAC members and report to the MAC and all provide a greater level of internal challenge and debate in relation to the Department’s policies.