Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 695: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of civil servants and other public servants, who have relocated to locations outside of Dublin under the Government's decentralisation programme; the estimated number of each category who will have relocated by the end of 2008; the breakdown of each set of figures in terms of those who are relocating from Dublin and relocating from elsewhere; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2991/08]

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 scheduled to be completed 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 100, and this figure is not expected to change significantly in 2008. Of the staff in place in this office, 39 were decentralised from locations outside Dublin with the remainder decentralised from Dublin.

The 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 2009, with a further 34 Carlow-bound applicants yet to be assigned from other Departments.

Agency Decentralisation. Under the current Government Decentralisation Programme, six of the Agencies under the aegis of my Department are due to decentralise or have already decentralised as follows: FÁS. Under the Government's decentralisation programme, FÁS is due to transfer its head office including some 383 posts to Birr, Co Offaly. FÁS currently has 21 staff members based in Birr.

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.

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 EI's 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. 12 serving staff members of the Authority have applied to transfer to Thomastown — 9 of these are based in Dublin. 14 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. 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.

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 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 the Agency. 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.

National Consumer Agency and Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority. 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 to apply for these posts. 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.

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 697: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the position regarding the planned decentralisation of Bord Fáilte offices to Mallow, County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1224/08]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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A total of 200 posts in Fáilte Ireland, one of the State Agencies under the aegis of my Department, were designated for transfer to Mallow under the Government's Programme of Decentralisation. In June 2004, a Decentralisation Implementation Plan was prepared by Fáilte Ireland and submitted to the Decentralisation Implementation Group (DIG). Following a recent meeting with the DIG, Fáilte Ireland is preparing a new Decentralisation Implementation Plan and is also examining the possibility of sending an advance group to Mallow.

A total of 87 applications for transfer to Mallow have so far been received under the Central Application Facility (CAF). No member of staff of Fáilte Ireland has expressed an interest on the CAF in relocating to Mallow. Fáilte Ireland has not been designated an early mover by the DIG. However, the Office of Public Works (OPW) is currently assessing a number of options regarding suitable locations and properties in Mallow. No decision has been made in this regard to date.