Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Question 153: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the progress to date of decentralisation to Drogheda, including the progress in relation to sites selected; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33375/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Under the current decentralisation programme, the Department's Head Quarters, Social Welfare Appeals Office, Information and Communications Technology Division are designated to relocate to Drogheda. In addition, the Citizens Information Board is also scheduled to relocate to Drogheda. According to figures received from the Central Application Facility (CAF), through which all applications for decentralisation must be submitted, 565 applicants have recorded this Department's Drogheda Office as their first preference. To date, 188 applicants have accepted offers of relocation with this Department to Drogheda. In addition, some 19 employees of the Citizens Information Board have relocation clauses included in their contracts.

The Office of Public Works has purchased a parcel of lands from Drogheda Borough Council in connection with the decentralisation of this Department to Drogheda. It is intended that the accommodation will be procured by Public Private Partnership (PPP), the procurement process to be conducted by the National Development Finance Agency (NDFA). In that regard, accommodation requirements were being assessed and the matter of bringing the Project to the point of procurement were being progressed within the Office of Public Works. The Government, on 8th July last, decided that further expenditure on the acquisition of accommodation for decentralisation (including Drogheda) would be paused pending the detailed consideration by the Government of reports from the Decentralisation Implementation Group and the Implementation Group of Secretaries General. I expect that such consideration by the Government will take place in the near future.