Brendan Daly (Fianna Fail)

I second the motion. I thank Senator Mansergh for affording me the opportunity to speak on this issue. I congratulate the Government on taking this initiative which was promised a few years ago and which, because of the amount of work involved, took a long time to prepare and to finally unfold. I thank the Department officials, particularly those in the Department of Finance, who had direct responsibility for much of the preparation and who put in an enormous amount of work and effort over a number of years.

In deciding on this relocation some years ago, the Government made a very wise and forward-looking decision. When it was first mooted it created considerable interest in the local communities, which organised themselves to put forward their case. In particular Kilrush Urban District Council spearheaded a campaign involving chambers of commerce and others. It is very frustrating for them to hear criticism of the decentralisation programme from the Labour Party, in particular, and Fine Gael. Huge work was put into preparing these cases and identifying locations for offices and the people for those offices.

One of the most heartbreaking scenes in west Clare over 20 or 30 years has been the sight of busses lined up in the square in Kilrush to bring young people to Dublin to work on Sunday evenings. They then have to traipse all the way back down the following weekend. I am sure Senator Higgins has seen the same thing every week in Mayo. Due to advances in technology most of the work of such people can be done in any location around the country. This was proven in the Kilrush case where a detailed set of proposals was made to the Department. When it was felt it might be necessary to have a larger number involved to facilitate the transfer of civil servants to the west, they linked up with Newcastle West and Listowel.

Deputy Deenihan, who represents Kerry North, was very disappointed by the Fine Gael response. Deputy John Bruton, as Minister for Finance, cancelled the decentralisation scheme, sold the sites that had been purchased for decentralisation and put back that scheme by 20 years. He was the main spokesman for Fine Gael on this issue at the time of the announcement and he has now continued the same negative approach to this operation as he had when he cancelled the scheme.

I will give one example of the success of decentralisation. A number of years ago when we resurrected the scheme after Deputy John Bruton cancelled it, it was decided to relocate 1,200 civil servants to Ennis, Limerick and Nenagh. That scheme was completed very successfully meeting the needs of thousands of civil servants who had applied for a transfer. This gave a major boost to the economies of Nenagh and Ennis in particular. The decentralisation and the amalgamation of some other offices into the new State office block on the Kilrush road out of Ennis made a major contribution to the economic development of Ennis and was mainly responsible for the huge economic upsurge in the town in the past year since that took place. Not only was it successful in the economic revitalisation of Ennis — much of which at the time was run down and neglected — but together with urban renewal it is responsible for making Ennis the vibrant town it is today.

That decentralisation scheme has been an outstanding success in meeting the requirements of hundreds of young people, especially those from County Clare who spent years on a waiting list seeking a transfer to Ennis, Limerick and Nenagh. When the Minister for Finance was in Kilrush at another function, he met a deputation of officials from the Revenue office in Limerick who had moved from Dublin. They pressed the Minister to urgently relocate people from Limerick to Kilrush, as many of them commute from west Clare to Limerick every day. Women rearing young families find this a serious burden and expense.

The decision to link Newcastle West and Listowel with Kilrush has been very progressive and forward-looking. It is proposed to have 50 people in each location. I understand there is significant interest in the provision of these offices by people who are willing to put financial commitments behind the proposal and have already offered sites, buildings and land to facilitate this.

I congratulate the Minister and his officials on the work they have done in this regard. I encourage them to press ahead as speedily as possible with the implementation of the decision. I want to nail the propaganda put out by Fine Gael and the Labour Party, in particular, that this cannot and will not work. It has worked before and it will work again. I look forward to hearing a further announcement of decentralisation and the existing plan should be expedited to give people the prospect of working in their own locality resulting in enormous development in the towns that will benefit.