Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 754: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the assessment of the financial implications of decentralisation which have been carried out and, in particular, the financial implications of the cost of training and additional staff during the on-the-job training in period; the cost of new recruitment to meet gaps in suitable applicants for the decentralised location; the cost of additional promotions to fill the positions required; if the cost of delays in redeploying staff who opt not to move with their post and cost of retraining and redeployment have been identified in respect of the proposed moves (details supplied). [32600/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The overall costs of the decentralisation programme to my Department cannot be quantified at this stage but will be agreed with the Department of Finance in the context of the Estimates process over the lifetime of the programme. The more significant costs arising, which are being borne by the Office of Public Works, involve the acquisition and fit-out of office accommodation.

The Department will be co-operating with the Department of Finance, the decentralisation implementation group and the Office of Public Works to ensure the Government's decentralisation programme is implemented efficiently and effectively. My Department has submitted implementation plans to the decentralisation implementation group regarding the decentralisation of the Department's Dublin operations to four locations in the south east, viz. Wexford, Waterford, New Ross and Kilkenny. Those plans are also published on my Department's website at www.environ.ie. The plans, inter alia, identify measures which are proposed to ensure that the programme is implemented in the most cost-effective manner.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 755: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if the audit committee of his Department or its agencies have reviewed the risk management assessment of the proposed decentralisation proposals (details supplied); if it has approved the assessment or made any recommendations for revising the risk assessment or changing the proposed risk mitigation strategies. [32608/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The audit committee in my Department has a role regarding reviewing the development and implementation of a risk management strategy in the Department. The committee receives a briefing on progress in that regard at its quarterly meetings. The committee has been supplied with copies of the Department's decentralisation implementation plans. The committee noted that the plans, inter alia, identify the risks attendant on the decentralisation process and measures which are proposed to address those.

The main risks identified at this stage relate to loss of knowledge arising from the anticipated significant high turnover of staff in all Dublin-based areas of the Department. Several mitigation strategies are in place or being developed to facilitate skills and knowledge transfer from existing staff to their replacements. Those strategies include the recruitment of new staff as early as possible, the phased transfer of existing staff out of the Department, the implementation of a comprehensive training and development plan and making available updated work guidelines and process maps. The committee will continue to review the risk management assessment of the decentralisation programme.