Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

It was something extra which is splendid. People in Tipperary are delighted to see the old Garda barracks, the Department of Agriculture and Food offices and former Royal Irish Constabulary barracks refurbished to a high standard to accommodate the new Private Security Authority. Advertisements have been placed for a chief executive who is likely to be recruited in January. A Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform official is working there two days per week. I am glad the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is driving decentralisation to Tipperary as I would be very concerned if he was not. He said this was the first of a number of moves to County Tipperary by agencies from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform family.

This may be a presentational problem but there was a reference to Thurles in the Flynn report. It was not included in the list but there was a paragraph about it. It is a kind of hybrid decentralisation. It stated that a total of 200 people from Garda headquarters are due to relocate to Thurles and this includes approximately 115 Civil Service jobs, so one is talking about gardaí and civil servants. It stated that the Central Applications Facility data indicate there is a high level of interest in Thurles among civil servants. It recommended that the Garda Commissioner prepare a joint implementation plan with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform dealing with the overall move and that the plan should be submitted by 14 February 2005 and should include an implementation time with a phased time lapse. That reinforces the point made that the Minister and the Department are driving this process.