Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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528. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the name, costs, date of commission, date or expected date of publication and name of the external consultant of all external reports commissioned by her Department since March 2011, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22030/16]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs was established on 9June 2016. The Department has responsibility for all the matters that previously came within the remit of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, which was itself established on 2 June 2011, and in addition is also responsible for certain functions transferred from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The details requested by the Deputy in respect of the nine reports commissioned by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht are set out in the Table below.

Contracts for the provision of services are not included in this Table. I would also point out that my Department also commissions engineering or environmental experts from time to time to provide technical reports on specific issues, as required. While the providers of these services are consultant engineers, environmental consultants or may describe themselves in other such terms, their work is not classified as consultancy services and is not funded from my Department's Administrative Budget.

The "Review of PSO Air Service for the Aran Islands" and "Review of financial submissions relating to the Public Service Obligation Air Service for the Aran Islands" were published in 2014. The "Updated Business Case forRestoring the Ulster Canal from Lough Erne to Clones" and the"Cost Benefit Analysis of the National Gallery Redevelopment Project"were published in 2015. The remaining reports have not been published and publication of these reports will be considered on case by case basis.

For completeness, I wish to provide information to the Deputy in relation to three reports commissioned by other Departments in relation to matters that are now the responsibility of my Department. The University of Birmingham was commissioned in 2010 by the then Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to undertake a review relating to peatlands. The resulting report, "Review of Archaeological Survey and Mitigation Policy relating to Bord na Móna Peatlands" was published in June 2013 and the associated costs of €34,337 were met by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

In 2015, the then Department of Environment, Community, and Local Government commissioned a Review of Comhairle na Tuaithe and the implementation of the National Countryside Recreation Strategy. This report was completed by ILC Sports and Recreation at a cost of €15,341. The final report was received earlier this year but has not yet been published.

Finally, the then Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources published the Final Report of the Post Office Network Business Development Group in January 2016. This report was completed by Warrenbay Limited at a cost of €32,540.

Reports commissioned by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht