Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I was merely informing the Minister of State as to the source of the cynicism. If he has not yet realised what it is, I have helped him to achieve closure in that regard.

People have been affected by the decision on decentralisation, particularly in terms of the way it was handled. There were no negotiations or discussions. The Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, launched decentralisation because of the absence of any other real initiative or policy from the Government. The Administration decided to proceed with decentralisation in the hope that all other matters would be swept aside and that people would talk about nothing else. People have talked about it but for the wrong reasons.

It is unfair to tell a young couple living in Dublin, one or other of whom works for a Department or State agency, who have purchased a home and whose children are in school or child care that the particular Department or agency is being encouraged to decentralise to a particular location. What will that mean for them? The motion refers to the need to restrict housing cost increases in Dublin and how people will benefit. Of what were its proposers thinking when they put forward that suggestion?

There are proposals for decentralisation to the towns of Ballinasloe and Loughrea and I welcome them. Nobody in Fianna Fáil or the Progressive Democrats should attempt to suggest that anyone opposes decentralisation.