Seán Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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Question 160: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the position regarding the decentralisation programme for his Department; the number of staff who have actually decentralised from a Dublin office to an office outside the greater Dublin area; the number of staff required to decentralise under his Departments plans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2535/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has been making good progress in the relocation of the required 250 posts to Carlow under the Government's Decentralisation Programme.

With regard to the property side of the Department's move, the Office of Public Works completed the purchase of a site in Carlow town centre late in 2005. On 31st May 2006, the OPW commenced the tendering process by seeking expressions of interest from developers in relation to the design, build, finance and maintenance of new office accommodation and car parking for the Department in Carlow.

On completion of this stage, a short-list of developers will be drawn up from whom tenders will be invited. Following the tender evaluation process the preferred tenderer will be requested to seek suitable planning permission. On obtaining this, the OPW will formally award the contract and construction will commence. The OPW expect construction to begin late in 2007 and the construction phase may take up to 24 months.

In order to accommodate staff who wish to move earlier than the projected building completion date, officials of my Department, in consultation with the Department of Finance and the OPW, as well as decentralising staff and Business Units, are progressing an earlier move to Carlow. The OPW have advised my Department that negotiations on the procurement of interim accommodation to facilitate an advance move are nearing completion.

I expect this advance move option to allow for the movement of approximately 80 decentralising staff to Carlow during the second quarter of 2007, on a voluntary basis.

The number of posts in Business Units decentralising to Carlow, as at 26th January, is 280. As at 26th January, my Department has 97 Carlow-bound applicants assigned within the Department, with a further 74 Carlow-bound applicants yet to be assigned to the Department. None of the required staff have been decentralised to Carlow to date. It is hoped to have all decentralising posts filled in sufficient time to ensure that staff are adequately trained in advance of the move to Carlow.