Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 72: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if her Department's decentralisation programme is on target. [27095/07]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Government decision on the decentralisation of my Department is that the headquarters will move to Portlaoise, involving some 600 staff; the local offices in Cork city will move to Fermoy, involving up to 100 staff; and the laboratories in Cork and Limerick will move to Macroom, again involving up to 100 staff.

The Department's Decentralisation Implementation Plan allowed for a phased movement to Portlaoise, i.e. the transfer of functions and posts over a number of years. The 2005 and 2006 phases of decentralisation to Portlaoise are now complete and the 2007 phase is in progress. Also, to facilitate the Government decision on decentralisation all new activities within the Department, particularly work relating to the Single Payment Scheme (SPS), are being focused in Portlaoise. In total there has been an increase of some 200 full-time posts in Portlaoise to some 400 since early 2004. Therefore, to date, the decentralisation of my Department is ahead of schedule.

The original estimate for completion of my Department's new headquarters in Portlaoise was 2008. As the OPW has revised this estimate to the end of 2009, an additional advance move of staff is now being prepared for 2008. When the 2008 phase is complete it is envisaged that, in advance of the final move, up to 50% of the original target will be in Portlaoise.

Implementation plans for Fermoy and Macroom are in place and the Department is liaising with the OPW regarding specifications for the offices and identification of sites. The recruitment process for Fermoy has begun.