289 Deputy George Lee asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the names and addresses of all nominees to bodies or agencies under the remit of his Department that were appointed since 26 June 1997, detailing by whom they were appointed; when they were appointed; the amount paid by the Exchequer to each nominee each year from 1997 to 2009 broken down into income, expenses, overtime and any other relevant category; the money paid by his Department each year from 1997 to 2009 to cover expenses or incidentals related to the nominees, such as accommodation, travel and so on; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5663/10]

There are currently four bodies, which operate under the aegis of my Department: the Development Education Advisory Committee; the Government Emigrant Services Advisory Committee (previously known as Díon); the Fulbright Commission (The Board of the Ireland — United States Commission for Educational Exchange); and the Audit Committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs. Seven other bodies, which are no longer operating, operated during the period in question: The Hunger Task Force; the Advisory Board for Irish Aid (ABIA); The Irish Aid Advisory Committee (IAAC); the Agency for Personal Service Overseas (APSO); The Irish Refugee Agency; The National Committee for Development Education (NCDE), and The Cultural Relations Committee (CRC). Information on each of eleven bodies is provided below. In some instances it has not been possible to provide full details in relation to remuneration and expenses in the time provided as this would have required retrieving archived material.

TheDevelopment Education Advisory Committee (DEAC) was established by the Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2003 following the recommendations of the Ireland Aid Review Committee. Its purpose is to advise the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of State for Overseas Development on development education policy. All members are appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and serve for a period of two years. All members serve in a voluntary capacity, and the committee is serviced by the Department of Foreign Affairs from the Department’s overall budget.

The Government Emigrant Services Advisory Committee (ESAC) (previously known as the Díon Committee) was set up in 1984 to advise the Government on the welfare of the Irish community in Britain . The Committee’s primary role is to advise the Minister on the allocation of grants under the Emigrant Support Programme, which supports Irish community organisations abroad. In February 2003, the budgetary allocation for Emigrant Services was transferred from the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to the Department of Foreign Affairs. Administration for the Committee is provided by our Embassy in London.

There are currently 12 members of the Committee, including two officials from the Embassy of Ireland in London. Current Committee members are all resident in Britain and can be contacted through the Embassy of Ireland in London. Committee members serve in a voluntary capacity and receive no payment for their time or expertise, although vouched travel and accommodation costs associated with attendance at meetings are met by the Department. All members of the Committee are appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The Fulbright Commission (The Board of the Ireland — United States Commission for Educational Exchange) was established under the Educational Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America), Act, 1991. The Commission finances study, research, teaching and other educational activities between Ireland and the United States of America. As Minister for Foreign Affairs, I have some statutory obligations in regard to this organisation, including the appointment of four members of the eight-member Commission, who serve in a voluntary capacity. The other four members are appointed by the US Government through their Embassy in Dublin. The Commission is financed jointly by the Irish and US Governments but it enjoys autonomy of management and administration in accordance with the Educational Exchange (Ireland and the United States of America) Act, 1991. Funding from my Department to the Commission is made from a grant-in-aid. The payment of expenses or other payments to board members is solely a matter for the Commission itself. A copy of the Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and of the audited accounts of the Ireland — United States Educational Fund are lodged with the both Houses of the Oireachtas annually.

TheAudit Committee of the Department of Foreign Affairs was established in November 2003 on foot of recommendations by the Mullarkey Report on strengthening governance arrangements in Government Departments and Offices. Members of the Audit Committee are wholly independent and drawn from outside the Department of Foreign Affairs. They are appointed by the Secretary General of the Department. All work is done on a voluntary basis. If a trip is made overseas in the course of their Committee work, any accommodation and miscellaneous expenses incurred by the Committee is reimbursed by Irish Aid.

The following organisations have been abolished or replaced by other bodies.

The Government'sHunger Task Force was appointed in 2007 following a recommendation in the 2006 White Paper on Irish Aid . The aim of the Hunger Task Force was to identify the additional, appropriate and effective contributions that Ireland can make to international efforts to reduce hunger. The Task Force had 16 members and held its first meeting on 14 September 2007. All members of the Task Force were appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and received payment and expenses as outlined below. It reported in September 2008, outlining a number of key actions which Ireland can take to give practical leadership internationally on the attainment of the Millennium Development Goal to halve the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015.

Six further people were also members of the Hunger Task Force but received no direct payment for their involvement. Some of their costs were directly covered by the Department as part of the overall expenses of the Hunger Task Force. They were Mr Paul Hewson (Bono), Ms Josette Sheeran, Ms Sheila Sisulu, Mr. Brendan McMahon and Mr Aidan O'Driscoll. The last two are serving civil servants.

*Payment relates to 2008; ** Includes publication related costs.

TheAdvisory Board for Irish Aid (ABIA), which replaced the Irish Aid Advisory Committee (IAAC), was established in August 2002 to provide general oversight and advice to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of State for Overseas Development on the strategic direction of the Government’s programme of assistance to developing countries. All members of the Board were appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The principal expenditure of the Advisory Board related to commissioning research, but also covered a number of incidental expenses. The Board ceased to operate on October 31st 2008 when the Board’s term ended.

TheIrish Aid Advisory Committee (IAAC) was in existence between 1993 and 2002. Its purpose was to provide advice to the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the strategic direction of the Government’s programme of assistance to developing countries. The IAAC had 14 Committee members. All members of the Board were appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

TheAgency for Personal Service Overseas (APSO) was established in 1973 as a semi-state body operating under the aegis of the Department of Foreign Affairs, with a Board of Directors appointed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs. All members of the Board served in a voluntary capacity and received no remuneration other than vouched expenses with the exception of the Chairperson who in 2002 was Acting Chief Executive and received a salary of €22,277. The following is a list of the Board of Directors of APSO as at 31 December for each of the years from 1997 until its integration into the Department of Foreign Affairs on 1 January 2004 which also includes the annual Board costs.

The Irish Refugee Agency was created in 1991 to assist with the integration of Vietnamese refugees in Ireland and it subsequently assisted with Bosnian and Kosovar refugees. In 2001, following the recommendations in the report of the Interdepartmental Group on the Integration of Refugees in Ireland, the Government decided to replace the existing structures for dealing with refugees (including the Refugee Agency) with the Reception and Integration Agency (RIA) under the aegis of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. In 2001, the year of it’s abolition, the Irish Refugee Agency had 13 board members.

TheNational Committee for Development Education (NCDE) was established in 1994. In December 2002 the NCDE was abolished and its functions were assumed by Irish Aid in line with the recommendations of the Ireland Aid Review Committee.

The Cultural Relations Committee (CRC) was established in 1949 under the aegis of the then Department of External Affairs and was transferred from the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism in 2002. The CRC has been succeeded by Culture Ireland which was established under the aegis of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism in 2005.