Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I am pleased the Deputy has given me an opportunity to correct an incorrect report in a Sunday newspaper, based more on fiction than on fact, despite the fact that we gave the details, and suggested they should contact the organisation involved, Pobal. In regard to these jobs, they are not civil servants. They are the staff of Pobal, which is a private company that operates under the aegis of the various Government Departments and gets administrative money from my Department.

I would like to put on record what is happening in Clifden. Some 20 new jobs are being created in Pobal to provide services for the rural social scheme and a new community services scheme that was the social economy scheme, which my Department has just taken over. These services are being provided on contract to my Department. The Deputy will be aware that it was agreed there would be decentralisation of ADM staff, now Pobal, to Clifden. It was decided to recruit these new staff for Clifden. We need them now because they must provide the services now. Pobal decided to recruit the staff and sought temporary accommodation in Clifden. The most suitable office accommodation was in the station house, a very large complex, including a hotel, apartments and many other buildings in Clifden. Some ten staff, who are extra employees, will commence work this month, with a further ten later in the year. These people are being recruited currently. Some journalists appear to think we are providing overnight accommodation, which is not the case. We are providing ordinary standard office accommodation.

The cost of the accommodation is €18 per square foot, which is approximately half of what the same accommodation, which would have had to be rented here for extra staff, would have cost. What was the point hiring staff to work in Clifden, bringing them to Dublin for a year or so while seeking permanent accommodation and moving them to Clifden? It would make no sense when they were hired to work permanently in Clifden. The obvious and cheapest way to proceed was to acquire the accommodation in Clifden.

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to correct an incorrect report in the newspaper. I wrote a short letter to the newspaper to the effect that I hoped the newspaper would win the newspaper award for fiction.

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