Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 133: To ask the Minister for Finance the position in regard to the decentralisation programme announced in budget 2003; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33205/06]

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 157: To ask the Minister for Finance the proportion of civil servants that will be relocated to new Government and State body offices outside of Dublin by year end 2006 that are themselves relocating from Dublin and are from other parts of the country. [33196/06]

Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 178: To ask the Minister for Finance the reason the programme for decentralisation has failed to meet the targets set by Government when the programme was introduced. [33181/06]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 180: To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the recent report by the decentralisation implementation group and the announcement that 2,000 civil servants will be moved to 29 new locations by the end of 2007; his views on whether the original target of decentralising 10,300 public and civil servants to 53 different locations has been put aside; his further views on meeting 20% of the target the Government set in 2003 for completion by 2007 is a success; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33082/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 133, 157, 178 and 180 together.

A progress report by the Decentralisation Implementation Group was submitted to me and published on 4th October last. The Group reported that implementation of the Decentralisation Programme is progressing satisfactorily.

Over ten and a half thousand civil and public servants have applied to relocate under the Programme. The Central Applications Facility remains open and continues to receive applications.

All Departments and Offices have produced implementation plans setting out the detailed arrangements they are putting in place to plan for relocation while also ensuring business continuity and effective delivery of services to customers. The plans are comprehensive and their preparation involved detailed reviews of business processes as well as the logistics of the move. Departments and Offices are taking a prudent approach in relation to assessing the risks involved and the adoption of appropriate measures to manage business risk.

Discussions have concluded on a number of human resource and industrial relations matters and are being progressed on other issues. To date decentralising organisations have established a presence in 12 new locations and at the end of September 2006, almost 2,300 staff have been assigned to decentralising posts. There are currently in place or are being trained in advance of decentralisation to a new location, as soon as accommodation becomes available.

Some 58% of the 2300 assignees are officers who were originally based in Dublin. The aim is to achieve a close alignment between the assignment of staff to Dublin posts and the readiness of Departments to release staff at particular grade levels. As the final makeup and staffing of the business units that are due to move in that timeframe has not been finalised, it is not possible to determine accurately what proportion of the posts will be filled by officers originally based in Dublin.

Over the next 18 months decentralising Departments and Offices will have a presence in a total of 29 new locations around the country. Over the next 6 months alone, it is anticipated that the number of decentralised staff in their new locations will have grown to over 1,000 in approximately 20 towns around the country. While I expect that many of these moves will be completed by end 2006, the precise numbers moving by end year will depend on the availability of property as well as timeframes for completion of fit out and installation of necessary ICT (information communications technology) and telecommunication cabling and equipment.

A facility is being operated through the Public Appointments Service to allow staff remaining in Dublin to express preferences in relation to the organisations to which they would like to transfer. This will be an ongoing process throughout the transition phase of the Programme. Progress in this priority area is being monitored in co-operation with Departments and the relevant unions, to ensure that they are operating efficiently.

The property programme is well advanced. Property acquisition negotiations have been completed or significantly advanced in 34 locations.

The OPW conducts a review of the property timeframes for permanent accommodation on an ongoing basis. Based on its experience to date in relation to timeframes for property selection and acquisition, brief and design issues, tendering periods, planning issues and contractual arrangements, it has provided an updated schedule of the likely availability of accommodation.

This schedule allows for the planned movement of up to 6,800 staff in the next three years in line with the target set out in June 2005. The indications at this stage are that the target of 550 staff moves in 2006 will be exceeded. The delivery time for some locations will be later than originally projected, however, leading to a greater concentration of moves in 2009 rather than in 2008. Matters outside the control of the OPW, which could give rise to delay, will continue to be monitored and mitigating action taken where possible.

There are of course elements of the programme which continue to present challenges. These include the position of professional & technical personnel who wish to remain in Dublin, the State agency sector and ICT areas.

Having already met with a number of Secretaries General, the Decentralisation Implementation Group is currently meeting with some of the Chief Executives of State Agencies to discuss their Implementation Plans, the planning framework in place, to assess progress to date and to hear about the challenges arising and steps proposed by the agencies to address them.

A paper setting out options in relation to staff remaining in Dublin has been tabled with the unions representing professional & technical personnel and my Department will be exploring a full range of options across the public sector, in consultation with the relevant union representatives, for redeploying staff within the Dublin area. I remain confident that the matter can be addressed with the active co-operation of all parties involved in the implementation effort.

In relation to ICT issues, a protocol has been prepared by my Department to address the filling of ICT posts and a sub-group of General Council has been established to move the process forward. The Centre for Management and Organisational Development (CMOD) has already concluded a pilot programme of ICT certified training and is currently developing tender proposals to source trainers to provide such certified training for new entrants to the ICT area. These initiatives will assist in ensuring a pipeline of skilled ICT staff in the Civil Service.

The issue of managed data centre services was also addressed by the DIG. The OPW is being asked to convene a working group to determine (i) the feasibility of procuring private sector versus State owned accommodation for data centres, including a cost benefit analysis of the options, and (ii) the logistics, costs, financing and staffing implications of State managed/operated data centres. It is expected that this work will be completed by Spring of 2007.