Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of money invested over the past five years by Enterprise Ireland in the redevelopment of the current headquarters in Glasnevin, including the amount spent on the materials building Technology House, and the land acquired at Claremont Avenue; the cost of the annual lease for the new headquarters at Eastpoint; when the decision was made to relocate the headquarters; and the reason for the decision. [38198/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The details of Enterprise Ireland's expenditure over the past five years on its current headquarters in Glasnevin in order to meet both its business needs and health and safety obligations is an operational matter for Enterprise Ireland and not one in which I have a function.

However, I understand from Enterprise Ireland that, in the period 2001-06, it spent €6.6 million on redevelopments on its Glasnevin site. This expenditure was committed well in advance of the Government decision to decentralise and was necessitated by the organisation's business needs. These included the need to accommodate the move from certain laboratory based activities to increasingly office based activities, the need to upgrade older buildings in order to meet health and safety considerations and the need to realign staff between buildings to meet the organisation's demanding strategic plan targets. This expenditure is split between expenditure on Technology House, which amounts to €4.5 million, and expenditure on the Materials Building, which amounts to €1.6 million. Enterprise Ireland also spent a further €640,000 on site consolidation and is now in possession of a very valuable asset which can be sold following the move to Eastpoint Business Park. The bulk of this expenditure took place in the period 2001 to 2003. Enterprise Ireland signed the lease in September 2006 for a single site Dublin office in Eastpoint Business Park in order to relocate its Dublin-based staff from its current four Dublin locations. The cost of this lease amounts to €2.9 million per annum.

The decision to relocate to Eastpoint was made in order to meet the business needs of the agency. Currently, Enterprise Ireland occupies four office locations in Dublin, primarily as a result of the amalgamation of various State agencies over a number of years into a single organisation to support indigenous enterprise. The lease on two of these buildings will expire in the fourth quarter of 2008, necessitating the move to a single site.

From an operational perspective, occupying four separate locations in Dublin was suboptimal, especially for an agency mandated to provide a range of services and expertise across several critical business functions in a holistic fashion. Crucially, having all Dublin based-agency staff in one location will enable Enterprise Ireland to further deliver on one of its most important new initiatives, namely, the creation of integrated teams of staff with complementary expertise to service client companies. Locating Dublin- based staff in a single location will significantly increase the level of collaboration within the organisation which will enable Enterprise Ireland to deliver a more effective service to client companies.

The move to Eastpoint will enable the agency to sell the majority of its valuable site in Glasnevin, while also enabling the National Standards Authority of Ireland to temporarily relocate from existing substandard accommodation which is causing health and safety problems to one of the buildings on the site which has already been refurbished by Enterprise Ireland, namely, the Materials Building. This move does not in any way impact on the National Standards Authority of Ireland's decentralisation process.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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It seems remarkable that we have just spent €6 million doing up two buildings, Technology House and the Materials Building, which are specific to the purpose of Enterprise Ireland but will spend a further €6 million in the next two years, given that the lease costs nearly €3 million per annum, on a building which is officially part of the decentralisation programme but which is located in the centre of Dublin, a location to which I never realised we were decentralising people. This operation was based in the centre of Dublin and one could argue it was situated in a location in which people will have bought houses in order to get easy access to their workplace. However, the Minister has now moved everything to a new location.

Can the Minister give me details regarding the length of the lease arrangement and its terms in respect of upgrade of rent on the new premises, given that it is currently €2.9 million per annum? How many years have we committed ourselves to? What is the expected value the Government will get from the sale of the building? Would it not have been possible to use the existing building given that other agencies such as Sustainable Energy Ireland are vacating that premises as part of the real decentralisation programme? I understand that Sustainable Energy Ireland is due to decentralise to County Louth. Who was behind the decision in respect of Enterprise Ireland? Was it the Minister or Enterprise Ireland itself? When was the decision made?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have already answered the Deputy's last question about when the decision was made. The decision was made by Enterprise Ireland. The agency has been undergoing significant change over the past two years. It has launched a very impactful strategic vision for the future and is very clear in its focus following the report of the enterprise strategy group on what it must do to develop and grow indigenous enterprises in this country. The feedback from many small to medium sized enterprises across the country is very positive in terms of the impact Enterprise Ireland is having on the growth of indigenous enterprise, particularly exports, and the need to help companies internationalise and globalise more quickly than we possibly did heretofore.

A considerable number of recommendations emerged from the enterprise strategy group's report relating to how Enterprise Ireland should reorganise itself in terms of its core functions, particularly in areas like research and development, technology supports, sales and marketing, internationalisation and the connection between both. Therefore, the need for integration was important. The idea of the agency being scattered in four offices around Dublin does not make sense. The different locations came about because Enterprise Ireland emerged from the amalgamation of a number of State agencies, all of which had their own buildings. In terms of the future of Enterprise Ireland, it makes sense to locate the agency in one office in Dublin for its Dublin-based staff. It has an asset which it can now sell and realise significant returns on as a result of this particular decision.

The lease was signed on 13 September for a single site in Eastpoint Business Park. As I previously stated, the cost amounts to €2.9 million per annum, which is €20,077 per square foot plus service charges. Enterprise Ireland has taken a normal commercial 25-year lease on two office units in Eastpoint. The lease has break clauses to enable Enterprise Ireland to effectively manage changes in accommodation levels and factors in the flexibility needed for it to comply with the Government's decentralisation programme. The decision makes sense in terms of what Enterprise Ireland is doing. The agency will realise a significant asset in selling it as a result of this decision. Critically, in terms of its own objectives and remit, the decision will facilitate a far greater degree of integration of functions for the future.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The Government is scattering civil servants all over the country, which will do immense damage to the long-term joined-up thinking we need in the Civil Service. This does not appear to be a consideration in terms of splitting up the Civil Service elsewhere.

Can the Minister indicate the estimated revenue that will be realised from the sale of the site? How can an agency like Enterprise Ireland, which by definition must be engaged in strategic long-term thinking, spend €6 million in taxpayers' money and then make a decision which goes in the opposite direction, namely, a decision to move to a new premises at a cost of €3 million per year when the State owned the original premises and there was no substantial cost? The key question is what revenue the Government expects to receive from the sale of this premises and how it can justify spending €6 million of public money which was effectively thrown out the window over the past six years.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Such money was not effectively thrown out the window. If the Deputy was to go through the reply in detail, he would note it illustrates that is not the case. I will not estimate the value of any sale.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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How can the Minister make a decision if he does not have a figure?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The market will determine that. The Deputy knows as well as anyone that the sales of any asset or building in Dublin are buoyant.

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Did the Minister get a confidential estimate?

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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Did he get an estimate?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Any person on the street would know that. It is common sense from that point of view.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)
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The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform would know that.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy has asked questions and sought replies. As I said, Enterprise Ireland is going through a period of structural change not only in its objectives but in how the organisation is structured. A fundamental document was prepared in the context of the enterprise strategy group which recommended certain courses of action. I have full confidence in the executive management of Enterprise Ireland and it has clear focus on the future. It is determined and enthusiastic about driving forward the indigenous enterprise sector. I have worked hard with it, as has the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Ahern, on a range of trade missions. We are keen to get it right for the future, as is Enterprise Ireland, because the indigenous sector must play a stronger role in the future in job creation and industrial policy.