The Cabinet reshuffle announced by Taoiseach Brian Cowen on Tuesday involves changes to five Government departments. The newly named departments are:
DEPARTMENT OF ENTERPRISE, TRADE AND INNOVATION
HEADED BY BATT O’KEEFFE
This department will take over most of the functions of the old department of enterprise, trade and employment.
Funding for the programme for research for third-level institutions will be transferred to the department. Mr Cowen said that this is designed to bring together a streamlined and focused programme of funding for research and development, aligned to enterprise policy.
As part of the change, some of the responsibilities held by the department over the State training agency Fás are being transferred to other departments, but there was some confusion yesterday about how this will happen.
The new Minister, Batt O’Keeffe, was attempting to get to grips with the issue. “I’m going to look at Fás, it’s still under my remit. I’m going to look at what the reconfiguration of Fás is going to be,” he said.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND SKILLS
HEADED BY MARY COUGHLAN
This department will remain largely unchanged, continuing to have responsibility for the entire education sector.
The one change involves the reallocation for skills and training policy to the department from the old department of enterprise, trade and employment.
This will involve the transfer of responsibility for the training activities of Fás which will be aligned more closely with the further education and training activities of the VECs, the institutes of technology and programmes such as Youthreach.
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY, EQUALITY AND GAELTACHT AFFAIRS
HEADED BY PAT CAREY
This department will take over the old department of community, rural and Gaeltacht affairs, with the addition of responsibility for social inclusion and family policy which will be moved from the old department of social and family affairs.
In addition, responsibility for equality, disability, integration and human rights, which were formerly part of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, will also be moved to this department.
The new Green junior minister Mary White will have responsibility for equality and human rights, and Integration at the department.
The other Green junior minister, Ciaran Cuffe, will have special responsibility for horticulture, sustainable travel and planning and heritage across a number of departments.
DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM, CULTURE AND SPORT
HEADED BY MARY HANAFIN
This is the old department of arts, sport and tourism with no extra responsibilities.
The Taoiseach pointed to the importance of the tourism and hospitality industry which employs over 200,000 people and brings in more than €6 billion in revenue to this country every year but the department already had responsibility for this area.
One small change involved the transfer of responsibility for the horse and greyhound racing industries out of the department to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
A change that does not involve the rebranding of departments is the allocation of responsibility for pushing public service reform to junior minister Dara Calleary who will oversee the activities of officials at the Department of the Taoiseach and Finance who are involved in the process.
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL PROTECTION
HEADED BY ÉAMON Ó CUÍV
The core of this department will remain the old department of social welfare with responsibility for the distribution of a wide range of benefits, from the job seeker’s allowance to pensions. Mr Cowen said that providing a more effective and streamlined response to the needs of the unemployed requires more joining up, and ultimately integration, of the income support provided through the social welfare system with the support for activation and preparation for re-entry to employment.
Accordingly, he announced that responsibility for the employment services of Fás was being transferred to the department as would the community services programmes of Fás. Responsibility for the operation of the Rural Social Scheme is also being moved into the department so that services which provide income and direct work opportunities for the unemployed are brought together.
Responsibility for the payment of redundancy and insolvency payments will also be transferred to this department.
