Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 122: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of departmental staff who have decentralised from the Dublin offices of his Department to the new offices in Killarney, County Kerry; the number of staff within the agencies under the aegis of his Department who have decentralised; if he is satisfied with the progress in decentralising his Department and related agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4765/08]

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 338: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of staff currently operating from Killarney; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5091/08]

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 339: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the number of staff in Killarney who were part of his Department prior to the Government announcement of the programme to decentralise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5092/08]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 122, 338 and 339 together.

Following the announcement of the Government's decentralisation programme in the 2004 Budget, my Department, which has a staff of 131 excluding the National Archives, was designated an "early mover" by the Decentralisation Implementation Group. (DIG). To date, 70 staff have relocated to temporary accommodation in Fossa, Killarney, in two tranches, 45 staff in September 2006 and 25 staff in July 2007. The objective is to complete the decentralisation process by the end of 2008 by which time the Department will be operating from new purpose built offices in Killarney. The number of staff in my Department who have opted to decentralise to Killarney is 10, of which 5 staff have already decentralised to the Department's premises in Fossa, Killarney. The remaining 5 staff will decentralise by the end of 2008.

No staff from the State Agencies under the aegis of my Department, namely the Irish Sports Council, the Arts Council and Fáilte Ireland, have decentralised to any of the three designated locations, Killarney, Kilkenny or Mallow. Although these agencies have not been designated as "early movers" they have decentralisation implementation plans in place that are under constant review. The Office of Public Works (OPW) is currently assessing a number of options regarding suitable locations and properties.