Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 837: To ask the Minister for Transport if he will make a statement on the progress to date in relation to decentralisation of civil servants to Drogheda, County Louth. [1017/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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A total of 47 staff members from the Irish Coast Guard and the Maritime Safety Directorate of my Department are due to transfer to Drogheda as part of the Government's decentralisation programme. Some 17 formal offers to transfer to Drogheda have issued to applicants under the central application facility, CAF, to date, nine of whom have accepted, and four have rejected their offers. Seven of the nine CAF applicants who have opted to transfer to Drogheda are currently working in the Irish Coast Guard or Maritime Safety Directorate of my Department. The following table gives the breakdown in this respect. I add that, in line with centrally agreed protocols, contact has been made with Departments in which staff have expressed an interest in moving to Drogheda in order to further the decentralisation process.

Matters relating to the provision of accommodation and facilities in Drogheda are being progressed in consultation with the Office of Public Works, OPW. The OPW is handling the process of acquiring a suitable site for the relocating functions in Drogheda. In parallel, a comprehensive brief of accommodation requirements is currently being finalised with the Department and will be forwarded to OPW shortly.

Seven of the nine staff members who accepted offers to decentralise are currently working in areas-divisions decentralising to Drogheda. A further four staff members who are working in area-divisions decentralising to Drogheda have received, but as yet, have not accepted offers to decentralise.