James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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108. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation further to the former Taoiseach's statement in September 2016, the detail of the 11 areas of responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy John Halligan; if responsibilities have been added or removed in the interim; and if she is satisfied with the way in which duties under each of the 11 areas have been carried out. [48751/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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On the 20th June, the Taoiseach re-appointed Mr. John Halligan T.D. as a Minister of State with responsibility for certain policy areas under the remit of my Department.

On 26th July, the Government made orders for the delegation of Ministerial functions to Minister Halligan at my request.

Minister Halligan has been delegated responsibility for Innovation, Research and Development (IRD) and will oversee implementation of the Government's national strategy in this area, Innovation 2020. He has been given responsibility for the delivery of IRD programmes across the agencies of my Department and the development of a successor to the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions. He has also been delegated responsibility for Ireland's membership of International Research Organisations and European Space Agency in addition to sectoral research initiatives that my Department is involved in, Ireland's engagement with the EU Framework Programme in Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020, and maintaining an Intellectual Property framework aimed at promoting and rewarding creativity, supporting innovative activity and improving the business environment.

These areas of responsibility are similar to what had been delegated to Minister of State Halligan prior to June 2017. Statutory Instrument No. 363 of 2017 entitled "Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) (No 3) Order 2017" sets out in detail the specific areas of responsibility that Minister of State Halligan has.

I am fully satisfied with the way in which Minister of State Halligan has carried out his duties.