Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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595. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the numbers of employees in his Department who were involved in commercial hunting during each of the past five years; the number of employees who are currently involved in commercial hunting; his views on whether that involvement in commercial hunting by his employees constitutes a serious conflict of interest in view of their statutory policing role; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46311/13]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, all civil servants are subject to the Civil Service Code of Standards and Behaviour, which was introduced under section 10(3) of the Standards in Public Office Act 2011. Under Paragraph 14 of that code, civil servants may not at any time engage in, or be connected with, any outside business or activity which would in any way conflict with the interests of their Departments/Offices or be inconsistent with their official positions, or tend to impair their ability to carry out their duties as civil servants. For this reason, civil servants intending to be engaged in or connected with any outside business or employment are required to inform their Department of such an intention.

Since my Department was established in June 2011, it has not been informed by any member of its staff of a potential conflict of interest with regard to commercial hunting. If the Deputy is aware of any such case or activity and is in a position to pass on the relevant details to me, my Department can investigate the matter further.