Chamber of Deputies

The internal administrative organisation of the Chamber of Deputies is governed by the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies and other regulations adopted by the Bureau.

The political steering bodies are tasked with a number of regulatory, policy-setting and oversight functions pertaining to the structure and activity of the Administration.

Political steering bodies

The President of the Chamber of Deputies ensures the smooth functioning of the Administration and proposes to the Bureau the appointment of the Secretary General.

The Bureau, which is chaired by the President of the Chamber of Deputies:

• regulates the organisation of the Offices and their functions;
• determines the legal status and remuneration of staff;
• appoints - upon a proposal by the President - the Secretary General, from among the Deputy Secretaries General, the Heads of Department or senior parliamentary officials having more than 15 years of seniority;
• appoints - upon a proposal by the Secretary General - the Deputy Secretaries General, whose number may not exceed five, from among parliamentary officials having more than 13 years of seniority;
• appoints - upon a proposal by the Secretary General - the Heads of Department, from among parliamentary officials having more than 11 years of seniority;
• adopts regulations and rules on the Administration and internal accounting procedures;
• agrees the internal budget plan to be submitted to the Plenary for approval;
• determines the annual financial appropriations to be made available to the Chamber for its functioning.

The College of Quaestors:

• has spending powers;
• prepares the internal budget plan to be agreed by the Bureau;
• supervises the smooth functioning of the Administration and oversees the enforcement of the relevant rules and the President's directives.

The Boards set up within the Bureau perform policy-setting functions in the following areas:

• documentation;
• personnel;
• external communication and information;
• security;
• equal opportunities.

The Administration's structure

The Administration of the Chamber of Deputies provides support and assistance for parliamentary work. It consists of 1043 employees, all of whom were recruited through public competitive examination, and is divided into 19 Departments and 7 Offices of the General Secretariat, the latter reporting directly to the Secretary General. The Historical Archives and the Office for Legal Counsel are also part of the structure. The internal organisation of individual administrative units is described in the internal Detailed overview.

The Administration of the Chamber is headed by the Secretary General, who is appointed by the Bureau upon a proposal by the President of the Chamber, from among the parliamentary officials having a long-standing seniority. The Secretary General is the Head of Personnel and is the legal representative of the Administration. He/she performs all the functions provided for in article 7, paragraph 4, of the Regulation of Services and Personnel as well as other functions established by said Regulation and the other internal Regulations. Under Rule 67 of the Rules of Procedure, the Secretary General is accountable to the President for the proper functioning of all Departments and Offices of the Chamber of Deputies. To this end he/she performs policy-setting and supervisory functions over all the activities of the Administration. The Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies is Mr Fabrizio Castaldi.

The Deputy Secretaries General are responsible for the coordination of such integrated areas of activities as are delegated to them by the Secretary General. The Deputy Secretaries General of the Chamber are Mr Annibale Ferrari, Mr. Costantino Rizzuto Csaky, First Deputy for the Secretary General, Mrs. Paola Perrelli, Mrs. Maria Consuelo Amato and Mrs. Claudia Di Andrea.

Mr Giuseppe Renna has been appointed Head of the President's Secretariat.

The Administration Department plans the administrative activities of the Departments and of the Offices of the General Secretariat. It is in charge of the preliminary procedures for the proposals for commitment of expenditure to purchase all the necessary goods and services, for public tenders and contracts. This Department is headed by Mrs Gabriella Pitucco.

The Chamber Department is in charge of organizing, convening and supporting the proceedings of the plenary sittings as well as the sittings of the Parliament in joint session. The Department also organises all the activities linked to the programming of parliamentary business. This Department is headed by Mr Danilo Santoro.

The Library is responsible for the purchasing, conservation and enrichment of the library holdings of the Chamber of Deputies. It issues bibliographic and legislative publications, participates in the creation and updating of electronic archives, provides reference services to MPs, as well as information assistance to external users. It is headed by Mr Paolo Massa.

The Department for the State Budget is responsible for the technical assessment of the financial impact of bills, amendments and other legislative texts and analyses the general trends of public finance. This Department is headed by Mr Renato Somma.

The Committee Department is in charge of organizing, convening and supporting the proceedings of the Standing or Special Committees, as well as of Committees of the two Houses performing tasks related to the law-making process. This Department is headed by Mr Gianfilippo Profili.

The Department for MPs' status and allowances is responsible for the activities related to the status of Parliamentarians and the administrative support for all the activities related to their mandate.This Department is headed by Mr Mauro De Marco.

The Department for Administrative Control controls the legal basis for as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of administrative activities. This Department is headed ad interim by Mrs Paola Perrelli.

The Department for Parliamentary Control monitors, within the Observatory on Legislation, the implementation of Acts, on the basis of the data provided by the Government and other relevant institutions. It also monitors the pre-legislative scrutiny stage, namely with respect to the obligations to be performed by the Government and other bodies under existing legislation. This Department is headed Mr Cristiano Ceresani.

The Administrative Management Department is in charge of the supply of services and goods to all the Chamber Departments. This Department is headed by Mrs Valeria Galardini.

The Information Technology Department is responsible for the operation and development of information technologies and manages IT systems supporting parliamentary and administrative activities. This Department is headed Mrs Fabrizia Bientinesi.

The Department for Works and Architectural Assets is responsible for planning and providing a full range of building and estate management services as well as for safeguarding the artistic and architectural assets of the Chamber of Deputies. This Department is headed ad interim by Mr Fabrizio Castaldi.

The Personnel Department is responsible for the recruitment and training of the staff of the Chamber, as well as all measures concerning the legal and economic status of active and retired employees. It is also in charge of relations with the trade unions. This Department is headed by Mr Paolo Nuvoli.

The Department for Privileges and Immunities performs all the activities pertaining to the status of MPs and their membership of parliamentary groups. It acts as secretariat for the Committee on Elections, the Committee for the Authorisation of Prosecution and the Committee on Indictment Procedures. This Department is headed by Mrs Cristina De Cesare.

The International Relations Department is in charge of the relations with international parliamentary assemblies, international institutions and foreign Parliaments. It provides assistance to the delegations of the Chamber to international Assemblies and to delegations on mission abroad and prepares documentation on the organisation and activities of international institutions. This Department is headed by Mr Mario Di Napoli.

The Department for Parliamentary Reports is responsible for drafting, coordinating, editing and collecting both verbatim and summary reports of the sittings of the Chamber and of Parliament in joint session. This Department is headed by Mr Renzo Dickmann.

The Security Department is responsible for the security of individuals, premises and data. It is also in charge of the organisation and assignment of the ushers. This Department is headed by Mrs Daniela D'Ottavio.

The Research Department provides documentation to the parliamentary bodies and, upon request, to parliamentary groups and individual MPs. It is also in charge of the Observatory on Legislation and of relations with cultural and research institutes. This Department is headed by Mr Bernardo Polverari.

The Treasury Department draws up the budget of the Chamber of Deputies, following the guidelines of the College of Quaestors. It also deals with the requirements pertaining to revenues and expenditure, electoral reimbursements and fund allocations for parliamentary groups. This Department is headed by Mr Carlo Frati.

The Department for Legislative Texts is responsible for receiving and publishing bills and for their referral to the Committees, as well as for the technical drafting of legislative texts. This Department is headed by Ms Daniela Colletti.

The Office of the Legal Counsel of the Chamber of Deputies deals with legal matters and activities pertaining to the representation of the Chamber in lawsuits. This Office is currently headed by Ms Maria Teresa Losasso.

The Historical Archives are responsible for preserving all parliamentary documents and records. It also issues inventories and other consultation instruments. This Department is headed ad interim by Mr Paolo Massa.

The following Offices of the General Secretariat report directly to the Secretary General :

The General Affairs Office acts as secretariat of the Bureau and of the General Secretariat. It is in charge of the mail registry Office and of translating and interpreting activities. It is headed by Mrs Annalisa Cipollone.

The Protocol Office is in charge of ceremonial events and representation involving parliamentary authorities and bodies. It is headed by Mr Marco Caputo.

The Office for Inquiry, Supervision and Control Committees performs all the activities necessary to support the functioning of Inquiry, Supervision and Control Committees. This Office is headed by MrRoberto Cerreto.

The Office for Parliamentary Publications and Relations with the Public is responsible for relations with the public, for cultural and social initiatives and for the publications of the Chamber of Deputies. This Office is currently headed by Mrs. Valeria Gigliello.

The Office for Relations with the European Union is in charge of the organisation of the permanent unit of the Chamber at the European Union institutions, of relations with EU bodies and of preparing the relevant documentation. This Office is headed by Mr Antonio Esposito.

The Office for the Rules of Procedure collects and studies the precedents on the Rules. It acts as secretariat of the Committee on the Rules of Procedure and of the Committee on Legislation. This Office is headed by Mrs Annamaria Riezzo.

The Press Office is in charge of institutional communication, also through the website and Teletext, of relations with the press and of press reviews. This Office is headed by Mr Filippo Maria Manvuller.

Within the Administration the following personal assignments are envisaged: Secretariat of Judicial Protection Bodies, headed by Mr Gabriele Malinconico; Secretariat of the Staff Social Security Fund, headed by Mr Antonio Pagano; Responsibility for occupational safety and health has been assigned to Mr. Marco Cerase; Responsibility for Data Protection assigned to Ms. Chiara Catania ; the Observatory on public finance and budgetary policies and for relations with relevant national and international entities, assigned to Ms. Paola Bonacci; Relations between the Administration of the Chamber of Deputies and university institutions, with particular regard to those with which memoranda of understanding have been signed or a specific cooperation relationship has been established, assigned to Mr. Raffaele Perna; Assignment related to research and analysis of the evolutionary trends of the rules and regulations governing the Employees' Provident Fund of the Chamber of Deputies, conferred to Dr. Luca Poggi; Responsibility for the initiatives pertaining to the exchange of good practices with the administrations of Parliaments of other countries, as well as the support and consolidation of relevant administrative, study and research capabilities; Responsibility for the Security Secretariat of the Chamber of Deputies, assigned to Mr Claudio Antoniello.

Report on the state of the Administration

Pursuant to the Article 7 paragraph 4 in the Regulation of Departments and Personnel, every year the Secretary General of the Chamber of Deputies, produces a report containing information on the activities of the Administration.