Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Dardis for raising this matter on the Adjournment. The Government decision on decentralisation, which was announced by the former Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, in his Budget Statement on 3 December 2003, provides for the transfer of Dublin-based Civil Service staff of the Department of Defence to Newbridge, County Kildare.

The Office of Public Works has identified a suitable site in Newbridge for the new departmental headquarters, but negotiations on the acquisition of the site have not yet been completed, unfortunately. It is not possible to give a firm date for the move, therefore, although I can say that every effort is being made to expedite the process. Given the nature of the Department's work, it is important that a self-contained and secure campus is obtained. Having said that, and bearing in mind that a site has yet to be acquired, it is imperative that the specific requirements relating to the building are not compromised just to meet the original stated deadline. The acquisition of the site is the constraint that is most likely to delay the relocation of the Department to Newbridge. I understand that the Office of Public Works is making every effort to achieve a successful outcome. I can inform Senator Dardis that I understand it will not be necessary to fall back on one of the alternative sites. I think we will be able to make progress with the site that has been identified in Newbridge. The preparation of the Department's requirements for the design, build and tender process is nearing completion.

The number of staff to be relocated to Newbridge is 202, including some top level posts which were not advertised on the Central Applications Facility. Some 385 personnel, of whom 59 are serving in the Department at present, have volunteered to relocate to Newbridge. That means a staff turnover of 71% will be necessary to fill the remaining 143 vacancies in Newbridge. As the decentralisation of the Department of Defence to Newbridge is heavily oversubscribed, there will be no difficulty in getting the required number of people to transfer to the Department. The main constraint to securing and placing all staff within the proposed timeframe will be the difficulties which will arise when individual members of staff are moving between Departments. Such difficulties will be handled by the Department on a case-by-case basis as they arise. It is expected that 60% of the staff moving to Newbridge will be in place by the end of 2006 and 90% of them will be in place by the end of 2007.

The offices of the chief of staff, deputy chief of staff operations and deputy chief of staff support will be located in the Department of Defence building in Newbridge. Approximately 40 military personnel will move to Newbridge. As Senator Dardis said, the other elements of the headquarters of the Defence Forces will be located in the Curragh. I refer, for example, to administrative support, communications and transport. Approximately 470 military personnel will be based at the new headquarters of the Defence Forces in the Curragh, the proposed site of which has been selected. Outline drawings of the new headquarters are being prepared by the Office of Public Works. The notification of planning will be issued by the OPW to Kildare County Council when the drawings have been received, in accordance with the Planning and Development Act 2001. In this regard, an initial meeting has already taken place involving the county council, the OPW and the Defence Forces. It is estimated that construction will commence in the third quarter of 2006 and will take approximately 18 months to complete.