Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The Minister has not taken a hands-on interest in this if he only met the decentralisation implementation group once against a background in which the programme is falling asunder. Over 90% of the programme will not be delivered by the date at end of the year he has set. Since he took office, he has only bothered to meet the decentralisation implementation group once.

Why has the Minister not discussed with the implementation group the lack of options available to people in State agencies who opt to remain in Dublin? There is no position from the Department on what will be done with them. Why has the Minister not sought information from the implementation group about the serious loss of experience likely to occur because of the low take-up among staff in specialist areas? This means that if he pushes ahead with the programme, we will lose significant knowledge, corporate memory and experience. Do these issues not deserve much more attention from the Minister than appears evident from just one meeting since he took office?

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