Sinéad O’Loghlin, Editor, Public Affairs Ireland
From October 2014 to January 2015, a team of PAI researchers contacted every Government department and state body in Ireland in order to give them the opportunity to provide us with up-to-date information on their structure, staff members, organisation objectives and ethos. We have now published our 8th edition Directory of Government and State Agencies, which contains comprehensive information on Government, parliamentary and state services as it stands in January 2015.
The layout of the book is simple to follow, with each Department having its own chapter. Information on the parliamentary committees which shadow the work of the Government departments is contained within the relevant chapter, as well as the state bodies and agencies which fall under the aegis of each department. Separate sections are also included with updated information on the staff, work and history of the Offices of the President and the Attorney General. The Directory also contains a chapter for the Houses of the Oireachtas, with contact details listed for every member of the 31st Dáil.
Since January 2014 when the 7th edition of the Directory came out, a number of state agencies such as TUSLA – the new Child and Family Support Agency comprising HSE Children & Family Services, the Family Support Agency and the National Educational Welfare Board – have been established. These new agencies, mergers or streamlining of functions, are listed throughout the Directory. July 2014’s Cabinet reshuffle is reflected in its entirety in this new edition, including the five senior ministerial appointments, all movements between Departments, and the 15 new ministers of state and their mixed portfolios.
In Chapter 10 on Ireland’s Foreign Affairs and Trade, readers can see all the new diplomatic missions added during 2014. New missions were added to Hong Kong, the Holy See and Sydney, Australia, to name just a few. Chapter 20 on the institutions of the European Union has been revised quite extensively; it contains profiles of the two new presidents of the European Commission and Council, Jean-Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk; details for all of Ireland’s new MEPs have been included, and Juncker’s 27 new European Commissioners and their portfolios have also been listed.
Since a print directory containing the organisational structures of Government departments and state organisations can only ever hope to capture with 100% accuracy one given moment in time, we have also created an online version. This will be revised at regular intervals during 2015 in order to take account of changes to staff and structures across Government departments and state organisations in Ireland.
Order your copy of the PAI Directory here