John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

The decentralisation programme that was announced has become a programme of relocation. If one examines the Minister of State's remarks today, one will notice that "relocation" is the key word that he used on many occasions. He mentioned "decentralisation" on a handful of occasions, preferring to refer to "relocation". It is a clear distortion of the original objectives of the programme as they were announced.

Decentralisation is a good idea. I agree wholeheartedly with the objective of moving civil and public servants out of our choked-up capital city and into the regions. No amount of fudge or waffle from the Government can describe the current situation as being anything other than disastrous. It is clear that the programme announced by the former Minister, Mr. McCreevy, in budget 2004 is now up in a heap. When the Minister of State concludes this debate, perhaps he will shed some light on some of the issues I have raised, but I do not think he will be able to do so. It is quite clear that the Government's decentralisation strategy is in a complete mess, although I wish that was not the case. I honestly believe that many towns throughout the country which were promised jobs will never see those jobs because the decentralisation programme is such a shambles. A few months ago, Senator Bradford raised the proposed decentralisation of a particular agency to Mitchelstown in County Cork. He investigated the issue with the Department and found out that there were only 90 people working in that agency, yet the former Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, had the brass neck to announce that 110 positions would be created in the town. That particular relocation is not in the list of early movers and seems to have dropped off the radar completely. It is quite clear from the level of take-up for decentralisation in the Health and Safety Authority that its proposed move to Thomastown, County Kilkenny, is a long way off. I regret that because Thomastown could do with the lift that such a move would provide.

I wish the Government the best of luck in the task of decentralisation, but its representatives must start telling it as it is. They should be a bit more honest with the House and the public. They should not massage the figures as they have done today and as the Government continues to do on this issue.