Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 272 and 273together.

Material provided as follows is in respect of meetings held in 2014 only. In the time available since these Questions were tabled, my Department has not been able to compile the information in relation to all other years.

Once the available information is collated I will arrange for it to be forwarded to the Deputy.

I chair regular Ministerial Management Board meetings which are attended by myself, the Ministers of State in my Department, the Secretary General and members of the Departmental Management Board.

The number of Ministerial Management Board meetings for the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014 were as follows:

Year	No. of Ministerial Management Board meetings
2014	8
2013	8
2012	8
2011	15

The Department’s Management Board is a management advisory body established to assist the Secretary General in ensuring my Department is managed as a corporate entity. This envisages the Board taking a central role in the formulation of strategy, in the development and monitoring of the business planning process, deciding resource allocation and ensuring that issues of a key policy, strategic and management nature are discussed collectively before submission, as appropriate, to me and Ministers Nash and English for consideration at a political level.

My Department’s Management Board is comprised of the Secretary General, the Assistant Secretaries assigned to the Department and, until the integration of Forfás into my Department on 1st August 2014, the Chief Executive Officer of Forfás. The Principal Officer with responsibility for the Management Support Unit in the Corporate Services, EU Affairs & Trade Policy Division attends each meeting as an ex-officio member and the Private Secretary to the Secretary General also attends to record the minutes of the meeting.

The Management Board of my Department drives and monitors the business planning process in the Department each year. It carries out a mid-term review of progress in quarter three of the business planning cycle and approves, in quarter four, new plans for the following year. In addition, the Board considers a wide range of issues which impact on the Department’s strategies, policies and practices across areas such as enterprise policy, labour market policy, trade policy, employment rights and industrial relations, science, technology and innovation, EU issues, company law, consumer and competition issues and many more. The Board also meets with all of the Offices and Agencies individually each year to review their performance.

I discuss decisions of a policy or strategic nature directly with Board Members and their colleagues on a frequent and ongoing basis. Neither I, nor my Ministers of State, are present at the Departmental Management Board meetings.

The number of Departmental Management Board meetings for the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and to date in 2014 were as follows:

Year	No. of Departmental Management Board meetings
2014	37
2013	20
2012	23
2011	30

Departmental Management Board Meetings 1st January – 31st December 2014

The date and attendance at each meeting of the Departmental Management board up to 9th December 2014 is set out in the tables in the following link:

Management Advisory Council meetings