Dáil debates

Wednesday, 21 November 2007

Adjournment Debate

Coast Guard Services.

8:00 pm

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I seek the permission of the House to share time with Deputy Tom Sheahan.

Photo of John O'DonoghueJohn O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

9:00 pm

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the Minister to the House to take this Adjournment matter which is general and national in nature. I presume she will present a comprehensive statement on her commitments and all the good jobs in decentralised projects that are on stream, but I will be parochial on this topic and with good cause.

There is a fear in the most northerly part of the country that the Coast Guard station on Malin Head will be made redundant in the coming years. I am worried about its future. In 2002 a report was commissioned from Deloitte & Touche which cost the taxpayer €145,000. It highlighted two centres — one on Valentia and the other on Malin Head — as the main centres for the Coast Guard service. In 2004 the then Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, approved one of the proposals in the Deloitte & Touche report concerning these two centres. The crux of the matter is that in 2006 there was a change of thinking as to where the main centres would be located. The two centres now on the table are in Drogheda and at an unknown location in the west. What is the Government's real commitment to decentralisation vis-À-vis existing State jobs? There are 18 such posts on Malin Head. The Deloitte & Touche report proposed that upwards of 28 jobs be located there in the next five to six years. Is the Minister committed to the original Deloitte & Touche report's suggestion which was sanctioned by the Cabinet? Is she committed to Malin Head and Valentia being the locations of the two main centres, or will she and her colleagues go against the Government's decentralisation policy?

Deloitte & Touche made its proposal on the basis of the Government's decentralisation policy. I know the Minister will cite a long report about all the things that have been done and are planned, but she should give a commitment that these two stations will remain as priorities in the future provision of Coast Guard facilities.

Photo of Tom SheahanTom Sheahan (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Ceann Comhairle on demonstrating his true belief in respect of decentralisation when, in his former ministerial capacity, he relocated the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism to south Kerry. I find it hard to understand why the 17 jobs in Valentia Coast Guard station are being put at risk. For a town such as Killarney that number would represent the equivalent of 250 posts. The 17 staff at Valentia Coast Guard station are consummate professionals. The buildings in which they operate are in perfect working order. I have visited them myself. In 2004 when the Dublin station was decommissioned while asbestos was being removed from the roof, the entire Coast Guard service was run from Malin Head and Valentia. The technology is available and up to date. The Government does not realise what it would mean to an area such as Valentia to lose 17 high end jobs. The children of several of the employees in the Coast Guard station are studying and hope to take up jobs in Valentia down the road. On those grounds, I ask the Minister to reconsider the decision and to take on board the essence of decentralisation by retaining these jobs in Valentia. The jobs should not be centralised to Drogheda, Galway or Ennis. Will the Government row back on this proposal and retain the jobs in Malin Head and Valentia? The 17 jobs on Valentia Island equate to 250 in a large urban town.

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I am replying on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport. The matter tabled did not refer to Malin Head or Valentia and, therefore, the reply is more general than the Deputies would like. However, I will highlight their concerns to the Minister.

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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This is about the ethos of decentralisation because what is proposed in this regard is the complete opposite.

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I will address the issues raised on behalf of the Minister of the Transport, and the Irish Coast Guard is relevant to his Department. I am pleased to confirm that the decentralisation of 50 staff from the Department of Transport and the Road Safety Authority, RSA, to Loughrea was among the priority moves in the Government's decentralisation programme and it is complete. With regard to RSA staff moving to Ballina, the number involved increased from 67 — that is, the number of staff originally located there — to 129. The majority of the additional 62 posts were secured from the Ballina central applications facility. Ballina, as an existing decentralised location, was an option for candidates under the current programme. The remainder of staff were secured from a mixture of open recruitment and internal promotional competitions.

The Minister for Transport's recent decision to move the maritime safety directorate, the Irish Coast Guard, technical and administrative, and the marine survey office, technical and administrative, to Drogheda is likely to lead to an increase in the numbers of posts transferring there over and above the original 37 planned. The central applications facility has resulted in a very positive response from applicants for this location. While neither the total numbers nor grades has been identified, the Minister for Transport is confident that finalising the actual 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 there will be no delay in completing the decentralisation process. As per the Government decision, all staff decentralising to Drogheda will do so on a voluntary basis. Proposals to decentralise the National Roads Authority and the Railway Safety Commission to Ballinasloe, Bus Éireann to Mitchelstown and the Irish Aviation Authority to Shannon are less advanced. The bodies involved were not identified by the decentralisation implementation group as early movers.

Each of the agencies has reported that few staff have expressed an interest in moving to the decentralised locations. This creates particular difficulties as many of the staff involved are in specialist posts. In addition, in the case of Bus Éireann, the total number of staff located in its headquarters is 80, while the decentralisation decision calls for 200 posts to move. Updated implementation plans have been requested from the agencies and these are expected to show progress on their individual moves. The matter of providing additional State jobs in any location is subject to Department of Finance approval within Government policy.

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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May I ask a quick question?

Photo of John O'DonoghueJohn O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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No, unfortunately, the Deputy cannot.

Photo of Joe McHughJoe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Will the jobs be decentralised from Malin Head to Drogheda?

Photo of John O'DonoghueJohn O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Ceann Comhairle)
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There is a strict rule regarding Adjournment debates and I have been the subject of it myself in the past. An Adjournment matter cannot be discussed following the Minister's reply.