Donal Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this important matter and I express appreciation to the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Deputy Smith, for coming into the House to address it.

The Government decided on a major decentralisation programme in the first week of December 2003. My concern is that since that time, little enough in practical terms has happened in various locations throughout the country, particularly in Macroom where I live and which I represent. However, we have had a number of reports in the meantime from the decentralisation implementation group. There was a report in March last year, a second one in July and a further report in September. In addition, the decentralisation implementation group published a report on 24 November 2004 and I have been informed that the group will report again. We were to receive this report in spring this year and I understand it will be published shortly. Macroom did not come to the fore in the previous reports and it was a matter of great disappointment to me and to the people of Macroom that it was way down the list as regards progress with decentralisation.

Macroom was not included in the first 15 projects to be relocated and it is of utmost importance that it be included in the next report. I thank the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Coughlan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brendan Smith, for keeping me updated that the accommodation brief in respect of the new laboratories in Macroom is being finalised as a matter of urgency within the Department and that when finalised, the brief will be passed to the Office of Public Works. The Office of Public Works was given primary responsibility for delivering the property aspects of the decentralisation programme. Great urgency is attached to this matter because the site on which the laboratories stand on the Model Farm Road is earmarked for housing. For this reason, the laboratories earmarked for Macroom will have to be urgently relocated.

The relocation of the laboratories from the Model Farm Road provides the Department with an ideal opportunity to consolidate its laboratory operations in the southern region, encompassing three laboratories in Cork and two in Limerick. I am pleased Macroom will become the regional veterinary headquarters for the Munster region.

What progress has the Office of Public Works made in acquiring a suitable site or property? If a suitable site or property has been earmarked, when can we expect accommodation to be available for Department staff who have volunteered to decentralise? When will work commence on the programme to provide these facilities in Macroom?

The employment which will be created in Macroom as a result of decentralisation is urgently needed in the area. The closure in 2000 of GSI, a labour intensive components factory, turned Macroom into an employment blackspot and decentralisation is badly needed to boost the economy of the town.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Donal Moynihan for raising this important issue. As he stated, the Minister for Finance announced the decentralisation of 10,300 public service staff to 53 centres in 25 counties, including eight Department headquarters, in budget 2003.

The overall decentralisation plan for the Department of Agriculture and Food provides for the relocation of 600 staff, including 200 information technology staff, from Dublin to Portlaoise; the Department's staff in Cork city and Mallow offices to Fermoy, involving approximately 100 staff; the Department's staff in three Cork laboratories and two Limerick laboratories to Macroom, which currently employ some 100 staff; and 69 staff of Bord Bia to Enniscorthy.

The Cork laboratories to be decentralised are a dairy science laboratory, a veterinary research laboratory and the brucellosis laboratory, all of which are located on the Model Farm Road in Cork. As the Deputy will be aware, my Department has agreed to give the land at Model Farm Road, Cork, amounting to approximately ten acres, to the affordable housing initiative. The Limerick laboratories being decentralised are also a dairy science laboratory and a veterinary research laboratory. In addition to the site on Model Farm Road, the relocation to Macroom will free up the sites of the existing dairy science and veterinary research laboratories in Limerick, comprising approximately one acre at Killkeely Road and Knockalisheen.

The accommodation brief of requirements for the office complex in Portlaoise has been prepared and forwarded to the Office of Public Works. The accommodation brief for the Macroom laboratories is being finalised in my Department and will be sent to the Office of Public Works shortly. The brief will outline the Department's requirements for office staff, laboratories, visitor areas and general service areas for the new laboratory complex. Bringing together these laboratories into one complex in Macroom will enable the Department to introduce a level of rationalisation which will lead to improved operational efficiencies.

The timeframe for the selection of the site or property and the completion of the development will be a matter for the Office of Public Works which will submit an application for planning permission in due course. The decentralisation implementation group report published on 24 November 2004 provides for 400 posts from my Department to be relocated in the first phase of moves to new Department offices in Portlaoise. It was subsequently announced that 200 information technology posts would also decentralise. This would bring total staff numbers in Portlaoise to approximately 850.

The moves to Fermoy and Macroom were not included in the first phase. A further report from the decentralisation implementation group is due to issue shortly dealing with other locations. Based on figures released from the central applications facility in September 2004, 91 people have expressed an interest in relocating to Macroom. This number comprises 45 people from within the Department, 41 from other Departments and five from the public service. As yet, however, there is a significant shortfall in Department of Agriculture and Food specialist staff volunteering for Macroom where many of the posts are professional and technical in nature.

I thank Deputy Donal Moynihan for raising this important issue. The Deputy has worked extremely hard to outline and highlight the advantages of including his constituency of Cork North-West in the Government's major decentralisation programme. I hope my reply outlines the up-to-date position regarding progress made to date.