Joe Callanan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this important matter and I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to respond.

The Government decided in December 2003 to decentralise the National Roads Authority and the Railway Safety Commission to Ballinasloe and some offices of the Department of Transport and the National Safety Council to Loughrea. While some progress has been made in respect of Loughrea — 114 civil servants have applied for the 51 jobs there — little progress has been made in respect of Ballinasloe. Just one of the 69 civil servants who have applied to be transferred to Ballinasloe is currently working for the NRA. No site has been finalised for the offices at Ballinasloe. I have asked on many occasions how many of those who have applied to be decentralised to Loughrea have highlighted Ballinasloe as their second choice. I believe that many civil servants have done so. I ask the Minister of State to give the exact figure, if possible.

Ballinasloe, which is in a RAPID area and has suffered many job losses in recent years, should be prioritised by the Government. It is a dream town for decentralisation because it has all the necessary infrastructure. It is on the new N6 route and on the main railway line between Dublin and Galway. It is served by the gas and broadband networks. It has low-cost housing.

It has three new playgrounds, a brand new state-of-the-art leisure centre, soccer, rugby, boxing and GAA facilities, three new hotels with planning permission pending, two recent hotels refurbished, a new secondary school with all modern facilities, a new gaelscoil which is almost completed, a new primary school at an advanced stage of planning, an extension to Creagh school which is at the other end of the town, proposals for incorporating sports facilities, with running tracks and pitches awaiting funding from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. It also has shopping facilities with Lidl and Tesco. It is just 15 miles from Ballinasloe where the institute of technology is located and it is close to Galway city.

Ballinasloe needs progress in decentralisation. There is so much Ballinasloe can do for itself but the Government can bring decentralisation to the town. I call on the Minister to proceed with the decentralisation programme to Ballinasloe and Loughrea.

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