60 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the commercial and non-commercial State-sponsored bodies under the aegis of his Department; and the year of establishment in each case. [7257/97]

Two State-sponsored bodies operate under the aegis of my Department. Each of these bodies is non-commercial.

The Employment Equality Agency was established in 1977 and came into operation on 1 October 1977 under S.I. No. 209 of 1977.

A non-statutory legal aid board was established in 1979 under the scheme of civil legal aid and advice. This was replaced in 1996 by the statutory Legal Aid Board, which came into operation on 11 October 1996 following my making of an establishment order, S.I. No. 272 of 1996 under section 2 of the Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995.