Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

As I stated on the previous occasion, from the central applications facility it appears that Limerick is a popular choice among staff from outside the Department. The transfer of specialists is still held up and the Department may have to face certain aspects of this issue. This would be normal in any event as one would not move everybody at once during any office move. We will try to phase the move to ensure the least disruption to the programme and the work of those in the headquarters and office of Irish Aid.

With regard to the issue of a direct connection with non-governmental organisations, I agree that many NGOs are Dublin based. Much of the population is in Dublin and the east coast on which much of our focus has been in the past. I presume the Deputy agrees with the conceptual notion behind decentralisation.

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