Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Skills.

I welcome the opportunity to outline to the House the decision taken by the Minister in early October on the location of the headquarters of the new education and training boards following the Government's decision to revise the configuration of VECs. In January 2011, the Department invited submissions from all of existing VECs on possible headquarter locations when the mergers took place. To facilitate submissions, the Department gave the following guidance to VECs:

While a number of considerations may come into play a fundamental requirement will be the need to ensure that the location of a VEC headquarters will, to the greatest extent possible, facilitate the distance requirements under which staff to be redeployed to that location can be redeployed under a redeployment scheme, allied to the need to operate at lowest cost having regard to the accommodation available in existing locations.

The key criteria of redeployment and cost-effective accommodation solutions continued to be dominant in considering the locations that were finally determined by the Minister. However, as the commercial property market is likely to remain weak for the foreseeable future, the likelihood of achieving savings that might defray any costs incurred in consolidating into one single headquarters became less significant for the short to medium term.

It would be difficult to accurately predict the costs or savings which will arise from any one particular merger or relocation, given the range of options to be considered with regard to use or disposal of existing property interests in those locations which have not been selected as either a head office or a sub-office.

Any costs in property acquisition, upgrading or refurbishment which may be required at those locations which have been selected as head offices will also have to be taken into account. The VECs involved and the new merged bodies when established, in conjunction with departmental officials, will work through these details in the coming period. Since some of the likely savings from the restructuring of the VECs, including the relocation of headquarter functions, will come from the sale of some existing VEC buildings, these may not be realised in the short term.

The potential revenue to be raised from the sale of these assets is closely linked to the current state of the property market. It may not be possible to dispose of such properties satisfactorily in the short term and we must proceed in such a manner that does not give rise to new or additional costs in a manner that prejudices realising the savings that are targeted.

The special group on public service numbers and expenditure programmes suggested savings of €3 million could be realised. The reconfiguration to 16 VECs can, over time, yield such savings in the recurrent cost of the headquarter functions of VECs which, at present, is €40 million in total.

I thank Senator Reilly for affording me the opportunity to respond to the House on this matter.