Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 693: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of civil and other public servants based in Dublin in his Department and agencies who have applied for decentralisation, who have been transferred to their decentralised post and are currently in position in the decentralised location outside Dublin; the number of civil and other public servants required for decentralisation under plans; the original and expected date for full decentralisation to be in place; the locations together with details of properties and land owned, purchased or planning permissions sought for the construction of premises for decentralisation; the costs incurred to date; the original budgeted for and expected total costs to be incurred for decentralisation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2604/08]

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)
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Question 696: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of civil servants and other public servants who have decentralised as at 31 December 2006 and the current date broken down into individual Government Departments and agencies; the number required for full decentralisation, broken down under individual Departmental and agencies plans; the number of currently decentralised locations in operation; the agencies with no progress; the values of properties purchased and sold in respect of the decentralisation process to date; the other costs incurred to date with the decentralisation process, broken down by category; the number of Departmental staff involved in administrating the decentralisation process since its inception; the number of planning applications in progress in relation to building decentralised premises and planning applications to be submitted, broken down by location and planning submission date; the original budgeted and the expected total costs to be incurred for decentralisation; his further proposals in this regard; the expected date for completion of the full decentralisation process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3005/08]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 693 and 696 together.

Department Decentralisation: Under the Government's Decentralisation Programme my Department is required to relocate 250 posts to Carlow. The following business units/Offices of my Department are earmarked for decentralisation: Companies Registration Office/Registry of Friendly Societies; National Employment Rights Authority (NERA); Work Permits; Redundancy Payments Section; Insolvency Payments Section.

As at 31st December 2006, no staff from my department were decentralised to Carlow. However, 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. It is my understanding from the OPW that the yearly rental costs for this office is in the region of €369,000 and the fit-out costs were approximately €2,068,000.

The number of posts in this decentralised advance office is 100. Of the total number of staff in place in this office, 39 were decentralised from locations outside Dublin with the remainder decentralised from Dublin. The total number of posts in Business Units decentralising to Carlow is 288. As well as the 100 posts already decentralised to Carlow, my Department has 49 staff due to decentralise in the substantive move scheduled for the end of 2009, with a further 34 Carlow-bound applicants yet to be assigned from other Departments. The number of staff who have transferred from my Department to other decentralising Departments is 64 and a further 101 staff have applied to decentralise with other Departments.

With regard to the property side of the Department's move, the OPW completed the purchase of a site in Carlow town centre for the construction of my Department's permanent office in Carlow. I understand from the OPW that the site acquisition costs were €1,440,000. My colleague Minister of State Noel Ahern TD, announced on 13th December 2007 that the OPW has invited The Macquarie Partnership as the consortium to become the 'Successful Tenderer' in respect of this decentralisation project. This forms part of a major PPP project, which also involves the provision of office accommodation for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in Portlaoise and the Department of Education and Science in Mullingar. The successful tenderer is responsible for submitting the planning application.

The OPW indicative construction completion date outlined in the 2005 Decentralisation Implementation Group Report was Quarter 2, 2008. I am hopeful, subject to no planning issues arising, that the completion of construction of the permanent office will be in late 2009.

With regard to decentralisation costs incurred to date, the most recent figure for non-property decentralisation costs for my Department, submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service, via the Department of Finance, relates to the period January 2004 to June 2007, and amounts to €121,107 broken down as follows- (Travel and Subsistence €2,953, Incidental €847, Office Machinery €78,935, Office Premises €11752 and Consultancy €26,620).

The issue of original figure budgeted for and the expected total costs to be incurred for decentralisation is a matter for the Department of Finance. With regard to the number of staff involved in administering the decentralisation project, a Decentralisation Implementation Committee has been set up to drive the process within my Department. The Implementation Committee is chaired by the Assistant Secretary, Corporate Services Division and comprises key personnel within the Department who are involved in the decentralisation process. These include the Department's Decentralisation Liaison Officer, the Heads of Sections/Offices to be decentralised and the Heads of IT Unit, Personnel Section, Training Unit and the Information and Organisation Resource Unit.

The Department's Decentralisation Liaison Officer is responsible for ensuring that messages and issues emerging are transmitted to the Department's Committee and that key messages/issues from the Department and its Offices/Agencies are fed back to the Decentralisation Implementation Group (DIG), via the Decentralisation Liaison Officers Group (DLOG), and DLOG Agency Subgroup, chaired by the Department of Finance. The Decentralisation Liaison Officer reports regularly to the Department's Management Board.

Agency Decentralisation: Under the Government Decentralisation Programme, announced in December 2003, six of the Agencies under the aegis of my Department are due to decentralise or have already been decentralised, as follows: FÁS. Under the Government's decentralisation programme, FÁS is due to transfer its head office including some 383 posts to Birr, County Offaly. In December 2006 there were 2 staff in the FÁS decentralised location in Birr, Co Offaly. FÁS currently has 21 staff members based in Birr who are working out of offices located within the Birr Technology Centre.

FÁS has completed the purchase of 5.59 acres (approximately) in Birr, Co Offaly, at a cost of €1.537 million, which excludes professional fees. A Planning Application is currently being progressed on behalf of FÁS by the vendor's Consultant Engineers and Architects, in discussion with the Consulting Engineers and Architects representing FÁS. In the meantime, since 6 May 2007 FÁS has leased a floor of a building within the Birr Technology Centre to accommodate staff in the decentralised location pending the construction and fitting out of a permanent Headquarters. The cost of renting these premises is currently €99,000 per annum plus VAT excluding rates. The total costs incurred to date are €3.257 m.

Enterprise Ireland. Enterprise Ireland (EI) is to move 300 posts to Shannon under the decentralisation programme. Progress on the full transfer of EI's HQ to Shannon, within the Government decentralisation programme, will be influenced by many factors including among others, the level of interest in the Shannon location expressed by CAF applicants and progress made in discussions at a national level. To date, no post has moved to Shannon under this scheme.

Enterprise Ireland (EI) working closely with the Office of Public Works (OPW) has identified, but not yet acquired, a preferred site for the construction of a new HQ building in Shannon. The preferred site is a 13-acre site owned by Shannon Development. The site occupies a prime position in Shannon and is considered suitable for a major landmark building or civic structure. Latest figures available to EI indicate that the Central Applications Facility reflects that no Enterprise Ireland staff have applied for decentralisation to Enterprise Ireland in Shannon. The number of applications received from within the civil and public service amounts to 25.

The expected total costs to be incurred for decentralisation is not known at this stage. The most recent figure for non-property decentralisation costs for the EI, as submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service, via the Department of Finance for the period January 2004 to June 2007, are zero.

EI now has a major presence in the Shannon region. EI has established its new National Regional Development Headquarters in Shannon and has established the County Enterprise Support Unit in Shannon. Currently there are 40 staff working in the Shannon office and it is expected that approximately 65 EI staff will be in place in Shannon 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 Regional are now in place in the Shannon office. As part of EI's regional strategy, these six posts were assigned to the new office in Shannon from Dublin.

Health and Safety Authority. The Health and Safety Authority is to move 110 posts to Thomastown, Co Kilkenny as part of the decentralisation programme. Twelve serving staff members of the Authority have applied to transfer to Thomastown — 9 of these are based in Dublin. Fourteen staff of the Authority have applied to transfer to other Departments/Agencies under the decentralisation programme — 8 of these are based in Dublin. To date a total of 65 civil and public servants, including 12 Authority staff, have expressed an interest through the Central Application Facility (CAF) process in transferring to Thomastown.

In advance of decentralising to Thomastown, the Authority established an interim office in Kilkenny city. On 31 December 2006, 15 Authority staff had re-located to that office. Currently, 27 staff, including 3 of the 12 internal HSA Thomastown applicants, are based in Kilkenny, and including also new staff recruited for the REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals) strategy. The only staff transferred to Kilkenny to date are serving Authority staff, as there is as yet no mechanism in place to facilitate the transfer of other civil or public servants. All staff currently accommodated in the interim office will move to Thomastown once the new premises are ready for occupation.

The Commissioners of Public Works have signed a contract for sale in respect of the site in Thomastown. A condition of the contract is that the vendor obtains the appropriate zoning for the site so that the Commissioners' planned development can take place. The required change of zoning has now been granted and the sale should close shortly. When the purchase is completed, expressions of interest for the design and build phase, will be invited from interested parties. It will be a matter for the successful tenderer to apply for planning permission at that stage.

The Authority's original date for decentralisation was 3 years from the date of the initial announcement i.e. 3 December 2006. In the Authority's Decentralisation Implementation Plan, it was proposed to have some movement in 2007 and completion in 2010. The current estimated timeline for availability for occupancy is 2009/2010.

The expected total costs to be incurred for decentralisation is not known at this stage. The most recent figure for non-property decentralisation costs for the HSA, submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service, via the Department of Finance, relates to the period January 2004 to June 2007, and amounts to €297,923. Details of the original budgeted and the expected total costs to be incurred for decentralisation is a matter for the Commissioners of Public Works.

NSAI. Under the Government's decentralisation programme the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) is due to relocate to Arklow, Co. Wicklow. The number required to decentralise from the NSAI is 132. A total of 10 Dublin based staff of the NSAI have applied to decentralise to Arklow. In addition a further 86 Dublin based civil and public servants have applied for decentralisation to Arklow. No staff from the NSAI have transferred to Arklow to date.

The accommodation requirements for the NSAI in Arklow are being addressed by the OPW. To date no progress has been made by the OPW in identifying or securing suitable office accommodation in the Arklow area. No properties have been purchased or sold by NSAI in respect of the decentralisation process to date and no planning permissions have been sought to date.

The expected total costs to be incurred for decentralisation is not known at this stage. The most recent figure for non-property decentralisation costs for the NSAI, submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service, via the Department of Finance, relates to the period January 2004 to June 2007, and amounts to €24,500 for consultancy services. The current NSAI implementation plan anticipates a target date of April 2009 as the completion date.

National Consumer Agency (NCA). The National Consumer Agency (NCA), which will be located in Cork City, was formally established on 1st May 2007. The NCA is currently staffed by employees of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment seconded to assist the Agency. In terms of the precise location of the Agency within Cork City, this matter is under consideration at present, including issues in relation to the premises and expected total costs etc. The Department of Finance has granted sanction for an overall complement of 80 members of staff. Furthermore, discussions are ongoing with the Department of Finance in relation to the manner in which the Central Applications Facility shall apply to the relocation. The Agency is expected to relocate to Cork in the course of 2009.

Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA). As the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA) is based in Naas, Co Kildare, the question of public servants based in Dublin is not applicable. IAASA has an authorised staffing level of 15, 9 of whom are in situ. An open recruitment campaign is currently under way to fill a number of the Authority's remaining professional staff vacancies. It is, therefore, open to any member of the public (including civil/public servants wishing to relocate) meeting the required qualifications for these posts to apply.

IAASA was established in December, 2005, and moved to its offices in Kildare in the following month. All IAASA staff have been based in its offices in Co Kildare since its establishment, and as such the Authority is fully decentralised. IAASA does not own any land or property, nor has it sought any planning permissions. Its offices are leased on its behalf by the Office of Public Works, said lease being for 20 years expiring in September, 2025. The full rental cost of €119,163 per annum is reimbursed to the OPW. As IAASA has been located in its decentralised location since its establishment, no specific decentralisation costs have been incurred.