Joe Walsh (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 164: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if accommodation will be arranged for the 180 staff who volunteered in 2004 to transfer to Clonakilty under the decentralisation programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16477/05]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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The latest information from the Public Appointments Service indicates that 176 expressions of interest had been received for posts decentralising to Clonakilty. Some 140 of the expressions of interest relate to the 91 departmental posts and 36 for the 93 Bord Iascaigh Mhara posts which are included in the Government's programme. The Office of Public Works is responsible for providing accommodation for the services to be relocated to Clonakilty. The Department is in ongoing liaison with Office of Public Works about the acquisition of a suitable site for the Department and Bord Iascaigh Mhara. The Office of Public Works advises that the site acquisition process is at an advanced stage.

We have provided a comprehensive and detailed specification of our accommodation requirements to the Office of Public Works to assist with the building design element. The decentralisation implementation group has indicated in its latest report that the anticipated timeframe for completion of facilities in Clonakilty is early 2007. The Department is working with the Office of Public Works and the Department of Finance towards delivery on that timescale.