Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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155. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the number of State agencies and public bodies that have been merged or abolished in each year since 2011, under the remit of his Department; the annual savings associated with each body; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21795/14]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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There are no State Agencies under the remit of my Department. My Department currently has seven bodies, boards, or committees under its remit. These are: the Emigrant Services Advisory Committee; the Advisory Group of the Global Irish Network; the Ireland – United States Commission for Educational Exchange (The Fulbright Commission); the Irish Aid Expert Advisory Group; the NGO Standing Committee on Human Rights; the Standing Committee on Holocaust Education, Research and Remembrance; and the Monitoring Group on Ireland’s National Action Plan for the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325 (which reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction). None of the foregoing has been merged or abolished since 2011. However, in September 2013 the Development Education Advisory Committee (DEAC), which was responsible for providing advice on development education, was officially disbanded. Its abolition followed the publication of One World One Future, Ireland’s Policy for International Development, which provided for a member of the DEAC to be appointed to the Irish Aid Expert Advisory Group. This Committee was serviced from the Department’s overall budget, and it had no whole time equivalent staff. Accordingly, there were no significant savings arising from its abolition.