Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 261: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of persons within each unit or agency of his Department who have opted to move to the proposed new location for their unit; the number of other Dublin-based employees of his Department who have opted to move to one of the decentralising units within his Department; the number of persons who have to date, in 2005, been assigned to each of the decentralising units; and the number of persons who have opted not to move with their decentralising unit who have been reassigned or offered an alternative posting. [36738/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Under the decentralisation programme it is intended to relocate approximately 300 of my Department's posts to new offices in Carlow. It is anticipated that these posts will be relocated by autumn 2008. To date, a total of 259 first preferences for posts in Carlow have been recorded on the central applications facility.

The business units of the Department that are relocating to Carlow are as follows: Companies Registration Office, work permits, redundancy and insolvency payments and employment rights-enforcement.

It is envisaged that a small number of information technology and service staff will also be required to support the aforementioned business units in Carlow.

Based on first preference and priority applications submitted to the central applications facility by 7 September 2004, the following table gives a breakdown of internal applications by unit who have expressed an interest in relocating to the Department's new offices in Carlow.

A total of 12 internal staff in departmentaloffices in Dublin, along with 11 staff in Kilkenny, all of whom are not currently based in decentralising units, have also applied to relocate to Carlow.

The following table outlines the position regarding the number of actual assignments per unit undertaken to date under the decentralisation programme. The figures only include the number of staff who have accepted formal offers to transfer to Carlow and new entrants recruited during 2005 to date.

A total of 23 other officers who have accepted formal offers of transfer to Carlow are currently in non-decentralising posts and will be assigned to decentralising posts in due course.

As yet, due to normal staff turnover, it has not been necessary to reassign staff who have opted not to relocate to Carlow. For business continuity reasons, and as the rate of intake of decentralising staff from other Government Departments accelerates, it is intended that the reassignment of staff who are not relocating to Carlow will be undertaken on a phased basis during 2006 and completed in 2007.

The position with regard to the decentralising agencies under the aegis of my Department is as follows: