Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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86. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of parliamentary questions his Department has processed in the past three years to date; the number of questions answered directly; the number of questions referred to bodies or agencies under the aegis of his Department for direct reply; the number of staff who are assigned to his parliamentary questions section; and if non-departmental staff, advisers and-or public affairs and relations companies have composed parliamentary question replies or had an act or hand in forming parliamentary question replies in the timeframe specified. [52246/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The number of Parliamentary Questions received by my Department is set out in the following table:

My Department is committed to answering Parliamentary Questions in a timely and consistent manner and almost all questions are answered directly.  

The following table sets out the number of Parliamentary Questions that were referred to bodies under the aegis of my Department for direct reply:

* The Office of the National Lottery Regulator responded directly to a Deputy as a follow up to a Parliamentary Question.

Please note that the Office of Public Works will respond to the Deputy directly in relation to the number of questions answered by them.

The Corporate Support Unit has responsibility for the allocation of Parliamentary Questions in my Department.  The Unit has five staff but they have a very broad range of other roles, including, for example, in relation to FOI.

Advisers to the Minister assist in the checking and processing of parliamentary questions as part of their normal duties.

Finally, non-Departmental staff or external bodies have no involvement in the composition of replies to Parliamentary Questions in my Department.