Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 587: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the reason the temporary office block to house the Company Registration Office in Carlow was chosen in view of the fact that it is still under construction and that there are many other suitable sites already built in the town, and available to rent; the costs associated with renting the temporary office; when he expects the permanent office block to be operational; the original time-scale for same; and when all 300 staff will be moved to Carlow town under the decentralisation programme. [14283/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My Department is required to move 250 posts to Carlow under the Government's Decentralisation Programme. The following business units/Offices of my Department have been selected as part of the Decentralisation Programme and will be relocated in the new decentralised office:

Companies Registration Office/Registry of Friendly Societies

National Employment Rights Authority (NERA)

Work Permits

Redundancy Payments Section

Insolvency Payments Section

In total, the indicative number of posts in Business Units decentralising to Carlow, as at 20th April 2007 is 288. The Office of Public Works (OPW) has primary responsibility for the procurement of suitable accommodation for both the advance and permanent re-location of decentralising Departments, including my Department's staff to Carlow.

With regard to the Permanent Office, the OPW completed the purchase of a site in Carlow town centre late in 2005. An advertisement was placed by the OPW in the national newspapers and in the Official Journal of the European Union, on 1st June 2006, seeking Expressions of Interest from experienced developers/contractors who wished to be considered in connection with the provision of office accommodation for my Department in Carlow. This is part of a major PPP project which also involves the provision of office accommodation for the Department of Agriculture and Food in Portlaoise and the Department of Education and Science in Mullingar. The project will be procured on a Design/Build/Finance/Maintain basis and a single contract will be placed covering the three buildings. Financial advice is being provided to the OPW by the National Development Finance Agency.

The OPW has advised my Department that an evaluation of the Expressions of Interest was completed in February 2007, and a short-list of developers/contractors was identified from whom tenders have been invited, at end of March 2007, with the tenders due to be returned to the OPW by the end of July. When selected, it will be a matter for the preferred tenderer to secure a satisfactory planning permission in respect of each of the locations. On receipt of satisfactory planning permissions, the preferred tenderer will be instructed to prepare working drawings, specifications and Bills of Quantities with a view to a contract being placed and construction work commencing on the three sites.

The OPW has also advised that, all going well, construction of the permanent office is expected to be complete in 2009. In order to accommodate staff who wish to move earlier than the projected permanent 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. It has been agreed that approximately 100 staff, 63 from NERA, 33 staff from a division within the CRO, along with a small number of support staff, will participate in an advance move to Carlow in Q2 2007, on a voluntary basis.

Following my Department's request for interim accommodation in Carlow, the OPW assessed a number of proposals in the town. Taking account of my Department's specific requirements and the timescale involved, it was decided that the premises selected represented the best overall solution to meet the Department's requirements. I am informed by the OPW that the rent will be in the region of €370,000 per annum, depending on final measurement.