Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 566: To ask the Minister for Transport when provincial-based civil servants who have applied for transfer to the proposed Department of Transport offices in Loughrea, County Galway, will receive an offer for transfer; if provincial-based civil and public service staff will have to relocate and transfer to Dublin for training prior to the move to Loughrea; if provincial-based civil and public service staff will receive expenses for travelling and living in Dublin during the training period; and, in view of the potential disruption for provincial-based staff seeking to transfer to the decentralised road haulage section, he will consider an interim office in County Galway pending the construction of the new Government offices in Loughrea. [29178/05]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I refer the Deputy to my previous replies to Questions No. 367 on 4 October 2005 and Question No. 261 on 5 October 2005.

Under the decentralisation programme, 50 transport posts are due to transfer to Loughrea. Those comprise posts in my Department and in the National Safety Council. Many of those posts will now be in the Road Safety Authority, and revised implementation plans are now being prepared on that basis. Nevertheless, my Department hopes to issue letters of transfer offers shortly.

A suitable site has been identified, and the Office of Public Works is currently in discussions with the county council regarding the preparations necessary for lodging an application to obtain planning permission for the site.

I expect to receive shortly from the OPW a revised time scale for the commencement and completion of construction works. My Department will review the options for the decentralisation to Loughrea, including the possibility of temporary accommodation, on receipt of the revised OPW plan.

The issue of training and living expenses is currently being discussed by the Department of Finance and the staff representative bodies. My Department will formalise training proposals for such staff once the training and living expenses agreement has been received from the Department of Finance.