Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

As the Deputy is aware, there are 33 VECs currently. Within that structure, 22 of the chief executive officers, CEOs, are permanent and the others are acting at present. The union representing the 22 CEOs on a professional basis, SIPTU, is in discussion with the Department to evolve a mechanism that will enable the 16 CEO designates for the new entities to be identified in a manner acceptable to all involved. Once the process of identification of the CEO designates is in motion, the question of the location of the headquarters will become germane. We will be at that stage in the coming five or six weeks and we will proceed in that order. I am keen to get there as quickly as possible and to provide certainty in terms of who the CEO designates will be and the location of the headquarters. The CEO designate will act in consultation and concert with the Department to begin to prepare for the integration of the VECs. For example, in some cases a city and county VEC will be integrated with another county VEC. Then, we will complete the process with the local elections in 2014.

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