Joe Walsh (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 232: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the interim arrangements he is putting in place to facilitate the 200 staff from his Department and BIM who have, for more than two years, volunteered to decentralise to Clonakilty under the central application facility procedure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7476/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's decentralisation programme provides for the relocation of 91 posts in my Department's seafood and coastal zone functions to Clonakilty. The 93 posts in An Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, are also to be relocated to Clonakilty. The Public Appointments Service, PAS, has indicated that a total of 176 expressions of interest, from across the public service, have been received for these posts, of which 140 relate to the Department's posts and 36 to the BIM posts.

The Department has so far concentrated on translating expressions of interest into concrete commitments and on progressing the issue of a permanent accommodation solution to assist the Office of Public Works in meeting the decentralisation implementation group's anticipated timeframe for completion of facilities in Clonakilty. As a result of our ongoing liaison with the Office of Public Works, a suitable site has been acquired for both the Department and BIM. OPW has also confirmed that the tender process to secure a design-build solution, based on a detailed specification of our requirements in Clonakilty, is nearing completion. Having progressed these priority issues, I recently asked officials in the Department to look for interim accommodation in Clonakilty to facilitate an early move there.