Joe Callanan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Chair for allowing me to raise this important matter and I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to respond.

The Government decided in December 2003 to decentralise the National Roads Authority and the Railway Safety Commission to Ballinasloe and some offices of the Department of Transport and the National Safety Council to Loughrea. While some progress has been made in respect of Loughrea — 114 civil servants have applied for the 51 jobs there — little progress has been made in respect of Ballinasloe. Just one of the 69 civil servants who have applied to be transferred to Ballinasloe is currently working for the NRA. No site has been finalised for the offices at Ballinasloe. I have asked on many occasions how many of those who have applied to be decentralised to Loughrea have highlighted Ballinasloe as their second choice. I believe that many civil servants have done so. I ask the Minister of State to give the exact figure, if possible.

Ballinasloe, which is in a RAPID area and has suffered many job losses in recent years, should be prioritised by the Government. It is a dream town for decentralisation because it has all the necessary infrastructure. It is on the new N6 route and on the main railway line between Dublin and Galway. It is served by the gas and broadband networks. It has low-cost housing.

It has three new playgrounds, a brand new state-of-the-art leisure centre, soccer, rugby, boxing and GAA facilities, three new hotels with planning permission pending, two recent hotels refurbished, a new secondary school with all modern facilities, a new gaelscoil which is almost completed, a new primary school at an advanced stage of planning, an extension to Creagh school which is at the other end of the town, proposals for incorporating sports facilities, with running tracks and pitches awaiting funding from the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism. It also has shopping facilities with Lidl and Tesco. It is just 15 miles from Ballinasloe where the institute of technology is located and it is close to Galway city.

Ballinasloe needs progress in decentralisation. There is so much Ballinasloe can do for itself but the Government can bring decentralisation to the town. I call on the Minister to proceed with the decentralisation programme to Ballinasloe and Loughrea.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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In the unavoidable absence of the Minister for Transport, I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond to the strong case made by Deputy Callanan. I am pleased to confirm that the decentralisation of Department of Transport staff to Loughrea is among the priority moves in the Government's decentralisation programme. This will involve the transfer of the road haulage functions of the Department of Transport from its offices in Park West, Dublin to Loughrea. The core functions of the road haulage division are licensing and enforcement. Licensing section is responsible for the issue of road freight carriers' licences and road passenger transport operators' licences. International section is responsible for the issue of community authorisations, permits, certificates of professional competence and letters of attestation.

The enforcement section enforces drivers' hours and licensing regulations. The Minister for Transport in the context of establishing a driver testing and standards authority has indicated his intention to add additional road safety functions to this authority. This could involve part of the road haulage functions.

The central applications facility has resulted in a positive response from applicants for this location. While neither the total numbers nor grades have been identified, the Minister for Transport is confident that finalising the moves will not present an insurmountable problem.

The immediate priority is to finalise a suitable location and construction of a premises. This work is being undertaken by the Office of Public Works. Once a premises is available, I expect no delay in completing the decentralisation process. It is expected that with the transfer of the road haulage functions to Loughrea, the Minister for Transport will take the opportunity to develop driver tester services and facilities which are available in the town.

The position in regard to Ballinasloe is less advanced as this has not been identified by the decentralisation implementation group as an appropriate candidate for an early move. The transport agencies identified for transfer to Ballinasloe are the National Roads Authority and the Railway Safety Commission. The primary role of the National Roads Authority is to secure the provision of a safe and efficient network of national roads. The primary role of the Railway Safety Commission is to foster, encourage, regulate and enforce railway safety and investigate and report on railway accidents. Both organisations include a significant proportion of professional and technical staff in their numbers and the level of interest expressed through the central applications facility system has been lower than was the case with the proposed moves to Loughrea. Nevertheless, the Department of Transport is continuing to work with both organisations to develop an implementation plan which will see the decentralisation to Ballinasloe as part of a subsequent phase of the Government's programme.

The rules of the central applications facility promised priority to those who applied before 7 September 2004. When the Civil Service has dealt with their applications, the applications received after 7 September 2004 will be processed by the Public Appointments Service. The process of issuing offers is due to commence shortly. To date, the central applications facility has not released any information in regard to applicants' second or subsequent preferences.