Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

The Government decision on decentralisation announced by the Minister for Finance in his Budget Statement on 3 December 2003 provides for the transfer of my Department's Dublin-based Civil Service staff to Newbridge, County Kildare. The number of staff to be relocated to Newbridge is 202.

While the Office of Public Works has identified a suitable site in Newbridge for the Department's new headquarters, negotiations on the acquisition of the site have not yet been completed. For this reason, it is not possible to give a firm date or cost for the move. Every effort is being made to expedite the process. Some 385 personnel, 60 of whom are currently serving in the Department, have volunteered to relocate to Newbridge.

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