Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 107: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress made to date with regard to the implementation of the programme of decentralisation in respect of his Department and State bodies under the aegis of his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31151/07]

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. 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.

With regard to the property side of the Department's move, the OPW completed the purchase of a site in Carlow town centre late in 2005. On the 31st May 2006, the OPW commenced the tendering process by seeking expressions of interest from developers in relation to the Design/Build/Finance/Maintenance of new office accommodation and car parking for the 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 the tender process is at tender evaluation stage and it is envisaged that the successful tenderer will be selected shortly and the award of the project agreement will be in December 2007. The OPW anticipate that construction start on site, subject to no planning issues arising, will commence in June 2008 and completion of construction of the permanent office is expected by December 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, opened an advance office in Carlow on July 30th 2007. The number of posts in this decentralised advance office is 98.

Under the current Government Decentralisation Programme, four of the Agencies under the aegis of my Department are due to decentralise as follows: FAS is to move 383 posts to Birr, Co. Offaly; Enterprise Ireland (EI) is to move 300 posts to Shannon; The Health and Safety Authority is to move 110 posts to Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, and The National Standards Authority of Ireland is to move 132 posts to Arklow, Co. Wicklow.

My Department continues to provide advice and support to each of the four Agencies in progressing their decentralisation programmes and there is a dedicated Agency Decentralisation Committee to drive the process forward. In addition, I am satisfied that each Agency is fully engaged in the process and taking all of the relevant steps to advance their decentralisation plans.

Under the Government's decentralisation programme, FÁS is due to transfer its head office including some 383 posts to Birr, County Offaly. FÁS currently has 21 staff members based in Birr who are working out of offices located within the Birr Technology Centre. It is anticipated that some 25 staff will be located in Birr by the end of the year. The offices in the Technology Centre have been rented on a 5-year lease from May this year. FÁS has recently completed the purchase of a site in Birr, Co Offaly in connection with the decentralisation of its Headquarters. An application for planning permission is currently being prepared and will be submitted in due course.

Latest figures show that one Enterprise Ireland staff member has applied for decentralisation to Enterprise Ireland in Shannon. I understand that the number of applications received from within the civil and public service, including my Department, amounts to 25, thus giving a total overall of 26 persons. Progress on the full transfer of EI's HQ to Shannon, within the Government decentralisation programme, will be influenced by factors such as the level of interest in the Shannon location expressed by CAF applicants and by progress made discussions at a central level on various issues central to Agency decentralisation (and resolving potential internal HR/IR issues)

As the Deputy will be aware, the functions hitherto carried out by Shannon Development in relation to the development of indigenous industry in the Mid-West Region were transferred to EI with effect from 1 January 2007. This transfer of function also involved the transfer of posts from Shannon Development to EI. The necessary arrangements to give effect to these changes are well advanced and a number of staff have already formally transferred to EI.

In addition, Enterprise Ireland has also established its new National Regional Development Headquarters in Shannon and has established the County Enterprise Support Unit in Shannon. A senior manager has been appointed as Head of Regions and Entrepreneurship to oversee the establishment of the EI presence in the Mid-West Region. EI managers with responsibility for the County Enterprise Coordination Unit and EI Regional Development strategy as well as the Regional Director with responsibility for the Mid West Regional are now in place in its Shannon office. EI has leased high-spec office space in Westpark, Shannon, to accommodate this new Regional HQ. Currently there are 40 staff recruited to posts in Shannon and it is expected that this will rise to approximately 65 EI staff over the coming months.

The Health and Safety Authority is to move 110 posts to Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. To date a total of 62 people (11 HSA staff, 41 Civil Servants, 10 Public Servants) have expressed an interest through the CAF process in transferring to Thomastown. The Authority has been advised by OPW that, as the site procurement is in the final stages, the current estimated timeline for availability for occupancy is 2009. In anticipation of the move to Thomastown, the Authority established an interim office in Kilkenny city in August 2006. To date, 27 staff have re-located to that office. That office is now fully occupied and discussions are currently on-going with a view to securing larger office space in the area. All staff that move to the Kilkenny office will transfer to Thomastown when those premises are completed and all newly recruited Dublin based staff are ultimately contracted to move to Thomastown.

Under the Government's decentralisation programme the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) is due to relocate to Arklow, Co. Wicklow. The current NSAI implementation plan anticipates a target date of April 2009 as the completion date for its decentralisation programme; however, this is highly dependent on the resolution of matters at central level concerning the transfer of staff within the public service and other staffing related issues. The accommodation requirements for the NSAI in Arklow are being addressed by the OPW but to date there has been no progress in identifying and securing suitable office accommodation in the Arklow area.