Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 241: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number to date of civil servants and employees of State bodies transferred from Dublin to decentralised locations; the number transferred from outside of Dublin to other decentralised locations; and the number transferred in post to decentralising Departments in Dublin pending planned decentralisation to locations outside of Dublin. [36026/07]

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 wished 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, opened an advance office in Carlow on July 30th 2007. The number of posts in this decentralised advance office is 98. Of the staff in place in this office, 38 were decentralised from locations outside Dublin with the remainder decentralised from Dublin.

Additionally my Department has 48 staff due to decentralise to Carlow in the substantive move scheduled for 2009. The number of staff who have transferred from my Department to other decentralising Departments is 59.

Health and Safety Authority

The Health and Safety Authority is to decentralise 110 staff to Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny. In anticipation of the move to Thomastown, the Health and Safety Authority has established an interim office in Kilkenny city and to date 27 staff of the Authority have decentralised to that office which is now at full capacity. The majority of these staff were either directly recruited or transferred from Dublin. All staff that move to the Kilkenny office will transfer to Thomastown when the premises there are completed.

Enterprise Ireland (EI)

The Government decentralisation programme provides for the transfer of the Enterprise Ireland Headquarters, with 300 posts, to Shannon. Further progress in effecting this move is contingent on a number of factors, including the level of interest in the Shannon location expressed through the Central Applications Facility and the resolution of certain key issues for agency decentralisation in discussions at central level. I understand that there have been 25 applications through the Central Applications Facility from civil and public servants for transfer to Shannon. Enterprise Ireland, working closely with the Office of Public Works, has identified, but not yet acquired, a preferred site for the construction of a new HQ building in Shannon.

Following the transfer of responsibility for indigenous industry development in the Mid-West Region from Shannon Development to Enterprise Ireland (EI) from 1 January 2007, Enterprise Ireland established its new National Regional Development Headquarters, which incorporates the County Enterprise Coordination Unit, in Shannon. This has given Enterprise Ireland a major presence in Shannon. At present, 40 staff, including a number of staff transferred from Shannon Development and over 20 local recruits, are based at recently leased offices in Westpark, Shannon. It is expected that this number will increase to about 65 over the coming months. 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 Region are now in place in the Shannon office. As part of EI's regional strategy, these posts were assigned from Dublin to the new office in Shannon.

FÁS

Transferred from Dublin to Birr, 12

Transferred from outside of Dublin to Birr, 3

New Entrants to Birr (replacing Head Office

Posts, 6

TOTAL, 21