James Bannon (Fine Gael)

The lack of transparency by the Government and the Minister of State has led to a situation whereby they are arrogantly overriding the standard procedures of our democracy. It is incredible to think that since the plans for decentralisation were first mooted prior to the local elections in 1999 no motion in this regard has been debated in the Dáil. No Government memorandum has accompanied it. No business case or risk assessment of its effect on any of the agencies has been presented. No human resource plan has been developed and no proper assessment of the financial implications has been presented. None of the selected locations has been justified against criteria for successful regionalisation. Neither those who fear a significant loss of "organisational memory" nor those who say that the dispersal of a majority of Departments across the countryside runs counter to international best practice have received an answer.

Decentralisation is not, and should not be allowed to be, shoved in through the back door but it is becoming clear that this is how the Government regards its implementation. The introduction of decentralisation in the budget was a deliberate ploy, as Senator Browne said, to avoid the scrutiny which has been established to protect our citizens from ill-considered proposals. The Government is not above accountability and the need for such accountability and transparency is laid down in the Article 28.4.1 of the Constitution which states "The Government shall be responsible to Dáil Éireann". Sadly, it appears that the Government sees itself as being above such restraints. In demanding accountability from the Government, I am conscious of the human element involved in any decentralisation plans. A total of 10,000 families are being asked to move, lives are to be disrupted, and public servants are being put into a "Dutch auction" situation by the Minister of State.