David Norris (Independent)

I do not mind being interrupted at all, especially by the gracious lady on the front bench.

The whole country is entitled to participate in our economic prosperity, which is one good argument for decentralisation. There are a great number of people from the country who may very well prefer to be in a rural environment, rather than in Dublin. I take that for granted but I am not quite so sure that the decentralisation programme was as well planned as the Minister is retrospectively making it out to have been.

I have listened to discussions where prominent people, including a distinguished academic from UCD, suggested that the Minister's proposals were cutting across the national spatial strategy. That argument remains. Decentralisation has fed the cynicism of some people. There is no doubt — and one can even see it here — that people are mousing over the pickings in their own constituencies. If one examines the allocation of Departments, they are going to places that are very appropriate to the current incumbents of various ministerial posts. That is what has happened and there is no argument about it. It leads, however, to a certain degree of cynicism, of which I share an element.

While I accept the principle of decentralisation — obviously, it is unhealthy that Dublin is so top heavy — I am not sure the programme has been sufficiently prepared. There was a degree of political opportunism, which I do not like, and which does not recommend the programme to the general public. In addition, there are some specific problems, which the Minister has not completely addressed. As a humane person, the Minister has consulted people and has taken the human element into consideration but I would draw to his attention a particular case of which I have heard. I have to confess that I listen a great deal to the wireless and the case I heard concerned a woman who was married to a highly skilled cartographer in Ordnance Survey Ireland. The woman concerned had a job in Dublin, which would be difficult to replicate down the country, and her children were attending school, which is another human problem. The real nub of the problem, however, was that if the man decided he did not want to leave Dublin and the Ordnance Survey was decentralised, what would he be left doing. For whom would he draw maps — the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform? This is where decentralisation hits a crunch point because I do not know how such people will be accommodated. It is a real human problem, which needs to be addressed.

How about decentralising a few offices to the north side of Dublin? What will the Minister do with the Custom House and Tyrone House when the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Department of Education and Science, respectively, vacate them? What will happen to those superb 18th century buildings that are landmark sites? Will they be flogged off? Will we put a funfair in them or lease them to McDonalds? I would like to know what will be their fate. I listened with respect to my colleagues on the Fianna Fáil side, and they made a very good argument, particularly Senators Daly and Mansergh, regarding the vitality brought to local areas by the migration of these Departments. That is absolutely true, but why is everything being stripped out of the north side of Ireland's capital city? The only two Departments on the north side are being taken away, and we will be left with the empty shells of buildings. Those areas are just as deprived as any provincial area of the country, and I want to know why we are not committing ourselves to revitalisation of the north inner city of Dublin, where there is a substantial drugs problem apart from anything else. The Government needs to build up that area instead of stripping everything out of it.