Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials to the House. I congratulate them on the work they are doing in making this a reality. A reference was made to "brass neck". With the amount of Opposition and media flak around, the Minister of State might well need such a brass neck. He is doing very well and is showing much steadiness under fire, for which I compliment him.

The Minister of State's report was echoed by the chairman of the decentralisation implementation group, Mr. Finbarr Flood, when he addressed the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service on 14 December 2005. He stated:

I am happy to report that real progress is being made on all fronts. Significant numbers of civil servants will move next year under the programme, with further large movement in 2007 and 2008. Decentralisation, for those who have volunteered, will soon become a reality.

We have just listened to a speech where lip service was paid, at the beginning and at the end, to the principle of decentralisation.