Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

As I said earlier, moves to Buncrana and Trim are under way at present. I have given the update on the Wexford situation and Newbridge, and the projects in Roscommon town, Tipperary town and Portlaoise are ongoing. Advance teams were sent to two locations where the buildings were not yet ready. Such advance teams are, in themselves, viable and may be augmented in the future as required if there is a demand or if this suits the manner in which the programme should be rolled out.

State agencies account for about 2,300 or 20% of the programme in terms of numbers. The pace has been slow here, with a number of inter-related factors serving to frustrate progress. However, much progress has been made and many creative solutions have been found to ensure that decentralisation can proceed, and indeed to meet staff demand in terms of those who wish to relocate as soon as possible and are prepared to look positively at interim solutions pending the full programme being rolled out in their particular location.

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