Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 105: To ask the Minister for Finance the discussions he has had with other Departments or State agencies concerned at the potential loss of expertise and corporate knowledge as a result of the Government's decentralisation programme; the steps being taken to address these concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39007/05]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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When the decentralisation programme was announced by my predecessor he appointed a decentralisation implementation group to drive the process forward. The group's terms of reference include the examination of how decentralisation might enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the public service.

The implementation group asked that all organisations participating in the programme should prepare detailed implementation plans, including risk mitigation plans. These plans were prepared and submitted to the group. In its July 2004 report, the group noted that the overall quality of the plans was good. In line with a recommendation in the group's November 2004 report, each of the Departments and organisations scheduled as "early movers" has prepared a revised implementation plan detailing the steps that need to be taken to complete the moves to the new locations successfully. These have been submitted to the group which has been examining them in detail. All other decentralising organisations are currently preparing revised implementation plans. The implementation group has recently met the Secretaries General of decentralising Departments to discuss the overall planning frameworks and review progress to date.

On a more general note, the Committee for Public Management Research, CPMR, has recently conducted a review of knowledge management in the Irish Civil Service. The purpose of the review was to raise awareness of knowledge management and its potential to support organisations in achieving their business objectives. It recognised that knowledge management had been given greater priority in response to ever increasing pressure to improve efficiency, together with a growing awareness of the importance of sharing knowledge across Government organisations to maintain a whole of Government perspective on policy making and service delivery.

It also recognised that the need for this has been given greater impetus by the decentralisation programme and the likelihood of significant changes in personnel in many Departments. The review identifies concrete steps and the cultural change required of Departments to use and share knowledge more effectively.