Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 438: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will provide in tabular form, details regarding the numbers of civil servants awaiting transfer to locations within the Laois-Offaly area, including Nenagh, Athlone and Mullingar; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16493/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy will be aware that County Laois features prominently in my Department's decentralisation programme. The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner moved to Portarlington in 2006 involving the transfer of twenty three civil servants and this number will be supplemented by a further forty two posts, when the Equality Tribunal relocates to the town in 2010. In advance of that, the Tribunal plans to open an office in Portlaoise in the coming months involving the transfer of fifteen civil service posts.

My Department maintains separate transfer lists in respect of civil servants who have expressed an interest in transferring to regional offices of the Department's Probation Service, which are not covered by the decentralisation programme. These lists are held on a county-by-county basis rather than by town. The numbers of civil servants on transfer lists for the counties covered by the Deputy's question are provided in the table. It is, however, likely that significant numbers of civil servants are on transfer lists for a number of locations, including for other Government Departments/Agencies. It is also probable that some of those on my Department's lists have been, or are in the process of being, facilitated with transfers to other Government Departments under the decentralisation programme.