Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

On decentralisation generally, the Office of Public Works, on behalf of the Department, will shortly be applying for planning permission for a new site in Charlestown in County Mayo. The staff currently located in Tubbercurry will relocate to that premises on its completion, which will be in 2010, all going well.

Non-property costs mentioned over the period 2004 to 2007 cover ICT and logistical support. The main costs of the Office of Public Works include the cost of the original site at the airport at Knock, that is, €390,000, and the rental and fit-out costs at Tubbercurry and Na Forbacha. It is expected that the additional costs will be a fraction of those incurred to date. At this stage, the Department is not in a position to be more specific.

Of the 144 posts to be relocated to Charlestown, 79 have been assigned to temporary offices in Tubbercurry as a precursor to the move to the new headquarters, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010. The Tubbercurry offices opened in July 2006. Additional temporary accommodation is now being refurbished in Tubbercurry to allow us to further advance the decentralisation programme. From mid-May, over 100 staff will be relocated there, that is, some 74% of the original target. All ten posts to be relocated to Na Forbacha are now assigned. On Pobal, 42 posts have been moved to temporary offices in Clifden. The full complement will be relocated when Pobal's permanent offices are completed in Clifden, which is expected in 2009. The Office of Public Works has identified a suitable site there.

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