Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion, which I support, and I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Decentralisation is an integral part of the Government's commitment to balanced regional development. I am delighted civil servants and their families will relocate throughout the regions as part of the programme. I wholeheartedly agree that balanced regional development is an essential way forward and congratulate the Minister for Finance on his foresight in decentralising Departments from Dublin. The advantages of transferring entire Departments include ease of promotion, accessibility to services for those who need them most and tangible evidence of the Government's commitment to regional balance across 25 counties.

Although it does not represent an end in itself, decentralisation is a beginning and a method by which we can continue to progress the significant efforts we have already made in tackling some of the serious regional imbalances which have developed over many decades. History will record that members of the Fianna Fáil Party, in Government, were the pioneers in attempting to successfully address regional imbalance, starting in 1989 with the decentralisation programme which has proven to be such a success and continuing with the developments contained in budget 2004.

I am satisfied that the units being transferred under decentralisation are sufficiently large to provide career opportunities for staff in their current Department or another Department within a reasonable commutable distance. As this decentralisation programme is aimed at all levels of civil servants, progressive civil servants can look forward with confidence to good career prospects and opportunities outside Dublin. It could be argued that this issue was a neglected prerequisite for the decentralisation programme of 1989.

Too much of our public administration is still concentrated in the capital. We bear witness to the pressures placed on public services and the quality of life in Dublin caused by rapid population growth. In rural and regional Ireland the opposite is taking place. The regions have been subjected to massive depopulation trends, which have perpetuated a brain drain and resource drain to the east coast. Governments led by the Fianna Fáil Party were the first and only Governments to recognise consistently that this is a pattern of development which is neither economically efficient nor socially sustainable. I commend them on the implementation, initially in 1989 and more recently in budget 2004 of one of the most obvious solutions to the problem.

Given advances in and dependence on information technology, there is no reason Departments should remain in Dublin rather than carry out their business in an equally convenient rural or regional location. This, in turn, will help to correct regional imbalances. The Fianna Fáil Party in Government has again taken the necessary steps in this regard. We have a proud record of decentralisation and sections of Departments already moved have been outstanding successes.

Approximately 34,000 civil servants and 2,500 public servants are currently employed in the non-commercial, State sponsored bodies. Following the earlier programme of decentralisation of Departments and the well established presence of regional and local offices of the Departments of Agriculture and Food and Social and Family Affairs and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, some 14,000 civil servants located outside Dublin. Effectively, therefore, almost 40% of the Civil Service is already located in the provinces. This demonstrates how we have led by example in attracting foreign direct investment and encouraging indigenous industry to locate in rural and regional areas. If the State shows that it can successfully make the regions as attractive as the capital, foreign direct investment and indigenous investment will follow.

Already we can see the effects of budget 2004 on investment throughout the regions. A significant number of indigenous and multinational employers have started to look beyond Dublin to more cost effective regional locations. The implementation of decentralisation by the Government is a win-win proposition for all involved. It will make a contribution to reducing city centre congestion in Dublin and will be a statement of the Government's intent in this regard. It will provide a significant boost to those centres in which Departments will be relocated and beyond as people choose to live in neighbouring towns and villages. It will bring economic benefits to the regions and, I hope, act as a powerful catalyst for further economic growth in towns throughout the country. The decentralisation of Government offices will also have a positive effect on the quality of life as towns and villages are revitalised.

I support the provision that the transfer of civil servants under the decentralisation programme will take place on a voluntary basis. It is important we satisfy all components of social partnership when we advocate moving such a significant number of civil servants from the capital. I am pleased that consultations have taken place and will continue to take place between the relevant trade unions and Government representatives to ensure the relocation will run as smoothly as possible and on a voluntary basis only.

While I fully support the decentralisation proposals, many challenges must still be addressed. One such issue is the infrastructural questions which surround aspects of the national development plan. I advocate the speedy implementation of the national infrastructure Bill, which could put to an end to the objections of groups restricting the progress of the NDP and holding the majority to ransom. The longer the full potential of the NDP is curbed by tenacious protesters and ulterior motivated objectors, the greater will be the effect on the provision of the infrastructure required to complement the relocation of civil servants nationwide and the national spatial strategy as a whole. I suggest we press for an early debate on the national infrastructure Bill in order that the Government's plans to decentralise Departments and offices realise their maximum potential.

We also face challenges with regard to the national spatial strategy, which offers another excellent opportunity to further build on the work we have already done to address the regional imbalance. I wholeheartedly congratulate the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on the spatial strategy. We must ensure we meet our responsibility to ensure that all arms of the State — semi-State bodies, local authorities and Departments — buy into the strategy and its principles. I respectfully suggest that legislation may be required to ensure this occurs in light of the behaviour of some of these bodies in the past. Iarnród Éireann, for example, took decisions about downgrading freight and various other matters which did not appear to be consistent with the overall aims and principles of the spatial strategy. We have a responsibility to address this and I ask the Minister of State to discuss with his colleagues whether a legislative umbrella could be introduced to allow all arms of the State to buy into the strategy and act in unison with its aims and principles when conducting their business.

Budget 2004 is a major step towards achieving the full decentralisation of Departments. The challenges must be addressed. I suggest that regional re-balancing be supported by legislative structures which tie in all aspects of Government's commitment to regional development. I reiterate my support for this Private Members' motion. I congratulate the Government and the progressive and proactive steps taken to date to ensure that the prosperity of the east coast continues but not necessarily at the expense of the BMW region and the other regions which need this investment.