Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

94. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of new State bodies and agencies under his remit that have been established since February 2011; the number of such bodies subject to a sunset clause; the number of new public bodies currenty being planned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41272/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A substantial programme of reform has been accomplished within my Department in relation to Agencies and public bodies including the merger, reform and abolition of bodies as set out under the Government’s Agency Rationalisation Programme.

The Low Pay Commission was established on 26th February 2015, initially on an interim basis, and subsequently on a statutory basis under the National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Act 2015, enacted on 15th July 2015.The Commission has 9 members, one of whom acts as an independent chairman. The primary duty of the Commission is to make recommendations to me each year regarding the national minimum hourly rate of pay, but it may also examine other related matters, at my request.

With effect from 1^stOctober 2015, the activities of the Labour Relations Commission, the National Employment Rights Authority, the Equality Tribunal and the first instance functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal and the Labour Court were merged into a new Body of First Instance, known as the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).

In addition, the appellate functions of the Employment Appeals Tribunal are now incorporated into an expanded Labour Court. From 1^stOctober all complaints fall to be referred to the Workplace Relations Commission in the first instance, and, on appeal, to the Labour Court. This heralds the biggest reorganisation of the State’s industrial relations and employment machinery in almost 70 years and is the result of four years of reform driven by my Department.

A single Contact Portal and information service, workplacerelations.ie, a single complaint form replacing 30 individual complaint forms, and a process supported by a modern IT infrastructure ensures a better experience for all in need of assistance to resolve their employment grievances.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission was established on 31^stOctober 2014 as a result of the merger of the Competition Authority and National Consumer Agency. The Commission has 5 members and has a dual mandate to enforce competition and consumer protection law and will build on the work of the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority to protect and strengthen competition, empower consumers to make informed decisions and protect them from harmful business practices.

Forfás was integrated into my Department with effect from 1^stAugust 2014 under the Industrial Development (Forfás Dissolution) Act, 2014. As part of this integration the functions of the Irish National Accreditation Board were transferred from Forfás to the Health and Safety Authority.

The transfer of enterprise functions from Shannon Development to IDA, EI and tourism functions to Bord Fáilte took place during the last quarter of 2013. The legislation to merge Shannon Development and Shannon Airport into a new commercial state company, State Airports (Shannon Group) Act 2014, was enacted on 27 July 2014. Responsibility for the newly formed Shannon Group plc rests with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport.

As the Deputy may be aware, on 15^thApril 2014, the 35 County and City Enterprise Boards were dissolved under the County Enterprise Boards (Dissolution) Act, 2014. On the same date, 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) were established. Under the legislation, the functions, assets and liabilities were transferred to Enterprise Ireland (E.I.), and these functions are now being delivered on behalf of E.I. by the LEOs within the Local Authority structure.

In addition, I would draw the Deputy’s attention to the fact that, following enactment of the Microenterprise Loan Fund Act 2012, Microfinance Ireland was established as a private limited company in August 2012, as a subsidiary of the Social Finance Foundation and has charitable status.

Microfinance Ireland has been funded by the Government to provide loans to newly established and growing microenterprises across all industry sectors that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by banks.

None of the above bodies are subject to sunset clauses.

My Department does not have any current plans to establish any new Public Bodies.