Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Yes, but he moved to Limerick on the basis of decentralisation when he could have gone to any third level institution in Galway, Cork or Dublin at that time. He is in favour of decentralisation, but he urges caution. That is why we asked him to examine areas such as IT, industrial relations and human resource issues, which he mentioned in his speech, and individual implementation plans.

I wish to confirm for the Deputy that every Department has had a series of workshops and seminars to help Departments and agencies in preparing their implementation plans. A number of Secretaries General, including the Secretary General in my Department, have met to ascertain the views on issues that arise in implementing the programme. I assure Deputy Rabbitte all those valid issues are being carefully studied. We have also looked at the post-decentralisation Civil Service. My Department is not affected, but we have examined the property and financial aspects and how things could work when decentralisation has been completed.

The former Minister for Finance announced last year, with the agreement of the Government, that we would make as much progress as physically possible by 2007. We are doing well. The two reports of March and September highlighted the progress that has been made and there is no need for me to go into it. It is the intention of the implementation group to have identified sites for purchase or existing offices — in most cases it will be greenfield sites — by the end of the year. Planning will then have to be sought and building commenced, and it is hoped that by the end of 2006 many of those will have come through.Obviously, if there are planning difficulties, it will take longer. However, by 2007 a large amount of progress will have been made. Even if it takes somewhat longer than that in a particular area, that would be no harm. The Civil Service will still be here in 2010. I would like to see the greatest progress made in 2007. That would be good for the Civil Service, which has changed fundamentally in two decades. Everyone in the House and in Government can take credit for that.

It is good that we are intent on decentralising. We cannot always complain about traffic, about the fact that Dublin is getting too big and that there will be a further 1.5 million people living in the city in ten years' time and then insist that the Government and the Civil Service cannot show that they want to do something about it. It is silly to behave in that manner. We must try to modernise our country, encourage people to live in the regions and take seriously what the national spatial strategy said about developing towns, large and small. I have spent all my life living within two miles of the centre of the capital city and I am of the opinion that it makes sense to decentralise. We cannot have a situation where people are obliged to develop houses in their front or back gardens, where increasingly taller buildings must be constructed in the heart of the city and where there is nobody living in other parts of the country. It makes sense to do this in a small country and we can do it in a short period. Whether decentralisation will be completed by 28 May or 20 June 2007 is important but if it is completed a short time later, so be it.

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