Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 585: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of civil servants in his Department who have transferred to offices outside Dublin under the decentralisation programme to date; the percentage of these who had a previous transfer within a two year period of the decentralisation transfer; the number of these people who transferred from a non-Dublin office to a Dublin office in the initial transfer; the average time spent in the Dublin office; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10529/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is required to relocate 250 posts to Carlow under the Government's Decentralisation Programme and this is planned to occur by the end of 2009. In order to accommodate staff who wish to move earlier than the projected building completion date of late 2009, 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. I expect this advance move option to allow for the movement of approximately 100 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 19th March is 288. My Department currently has 105 Carlow-bound applicants assigned within the Department, with a further 75 Carlow-bound applicants yet to be assigned to the Department. 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.

No staff from my Department have relocated to Carlow to date. As no staff have transferred from a non-Dublin office to Dublin as part of the initial transfer, the other issues raised by the Deputy do not apply.