Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 96: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement on the number of posts that have been decentralised to date, and of those, the number that have been decentralised from Dublin, and their grades; the number that have opted to remain in Dublin, and their grades; the number of those that have moved to another Department or agency in Dublin; and the number that have been decentralised from outside Dublin to other locations and their grades. [40478/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The following is the information requested by the Deputy in tabular form for my Department and the bodies under the aegis of my Department.

The decentralisation programme operates on a voluntary basis only and no staff were designated to move from Dublin to any location unless they applied to decentralise to a provincial location.

As my Department has retained a substantial number of posts in Dublin, the necessity to compulsorily re-assign staff to other posts in Dublin did not arise.

However, a number of staff whose posts were designated for decentralisation have been assigned new duties. It should also be noted that a number of re-assignments to other Departments did take place on a voluntary basis.

As Revenue retained a substantial number of posts in Dublin, the necessity to reassign staff who did not wish to decentralise to other Departments in Dublin did not arise. No Revenue staff moved to another Department or agency in Dublin, in order to remain in Dublin as a result of decentralisation.

In the time available to answer the question, the Office of Public Works was unable to compile the information in the format sought by the Deputy. However, the information will be compiled and forwarded by that Office to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 97: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement on the number of posts that will be decentralised based on budget 2009, and of those, the number that will be decentralised from Dublin, and their grades; the number who have opted to remain in Dublin, and their grades; the number of those who will move to another Department or agency in Dublin; and the number who will be decentralised from outside Dublin to other locations, and their grades. [40479/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As I announced in the Budget, the Government has reviewed the Decentralisation Programme in light of the changed economic circumstances and identified priority elements on which implementation should now proceed. The Government's decision will result in the relocation of up to 6,000 posts to over 40 locations outside of Dublin. This is made up of 2,500 posts already moved, together with an additional 3,500 posts which are in train. Decisions on the timing of further work on implementation of the balance of the programme are being deferred pending a review in 2011 in light of budgetary developments.

The Deputy refers to the number who will be decentralised from outside Dublin. It is useful to highlight the distinction between the location of posts and the mechanism for filling these posts. When the current phase of the programme has been completed, a total of 6,000 posts which were previously located in Dublin will be located in provincial locations. Staff serving in posts already located in Dublin or in regional locations may express a preference for any new location in the programme, or for another existing decentralised/provincial location. When regionally based staff move to an alternative location, their vacancy in turn is filled from among those on the CAF who have expressed an interest in that location or, where there are no such applicants, posts which otherwise would have been filled in Dublin through recruitment or promotion are filled instead in the provincial location. In either scenario the post has relocated from Dublin.

Up to September 2008, over thirteen thousand civil and public servants have applied on the CAF to relocate under the Programme. Over 7,000 of these — or 53% — were Dublin-based applicants. Because of the nature of the programme and the time scales involved, individual circumstances are open to change and application status may change as a result. Consequently, it is not possible to calculate at this stage how many of the decentralising posts to be moved will be filled by people originally from Dublin. I understand that each Minister is currently compiling detailed information for the Deputy in relation to the numbers and grades moved in each organisation and the numbers remaining in Dublin.