Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

I welcome decentralisation in principle and it is an excellent idea. The Minister of State referred to Nenagh. I am the first to acknowledge that the decentralisation of some sections of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Agriculture and Food there has done nothing but good for the town. I look forward to the further decentralisation of different Departments to both Roscrea and Thurles. Decentralisation has a major impact on rural towns.

However, there are concerns about this particular programme, especially the failure to line it up with the spatial strategy and how it will work in practice. There is also concern about how the Departments are moved out of Dublin and how the policy sections of the Departments can work. With Departments 100 miles from Dublin, how will the need for Ministers to have civil servants around when the Dáil is sitting be reconciled? Will there be a massive bill for civil servants' travel expenses? In the weeks after the programme was announced, I was informed by a PO from a particular Department that none of the POs was interested in moving. This will result in the extraordinary situation where they will be left in Dublin and a number of such posts will be created in the Department's new location. Will there be duplication? How will the promotion process work? If the decentralisation programme works, I hope there will be a career path within a county, for example in the Department of Defence in County Tipperary.