Geological Survey Ireland, founded in 1845, is the National Earth science agency. It is responsible for providing geological advice and information, and for the acquisition of data for this purpose. Geological Survey Ireland produces a range of products including maps, reports and databases and acts as a knowledge centre and project partner in all aspects of Irish geology. It is a division of the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) and has around 50 multi-disciplinary staff. Operational Programmes Geological Survey Ireland serves its customer needs through a range of operational programmes and support services: The Information Management Programme underpins all of our activities in the delivery of geological information to our customers, and is recognised as the most important corporate priority. The Surveying Programmes (Bedrock Geology, Quaternary Geology, Marine Geology and Geophysics) are long-term, and feed information to the Applied Programmes, as well as producing maps and reports used directly by a wide range of external customers. The Applied Programmes (Groundwater, Minerals, Geotechnical, Geological Heritage) are largely project-oriented, and provide solutions to specific customer needs, their various activities helping to build their respective databases. All Programmes and Administrative activities depend on the various Support Services (Information Management, Cartography, Central Technical Services and Administration) to help them achieve their targets.