Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 171: To ask the Tánaiste and 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 decentralisation programme; the estimated number of each category who will have relocated by the end of 2009; the breakdown of each set of figures in terms of those who are relocating from Dublin and relocating from elsewhere; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [47000/08]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department has been making good progress in the relocation of the required 250 posts to Carlow under the Government's Decentralisation Programme.

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 staff in this decentralised advance office is 98. This number is expected to increase to 103 in 2009 with the balance of staff decentralised in 2010. Of the 98 staff in place in Carlow, 60 have decentralised from Dublin and 38 from outside Dublin.

Health and Safety Authority

Under the decentralisation programme, 110 staff of the Health and Safety Authority were assigned to decentralise to Thomastown, Co Kilkenny. In anticipation of the move to Thomastown, the Authority established an interim office in Kilkenny city in August 2006.

The Authority currently has 33 staff based in its interim office in Kilkenny. Of these, 7 staff have relocated from its Dublin Office and the remaining 26 staff have been assigned to Kilkenny on recruitment to the Authority.

Significant further progress on decentralisation within the Authority awaits the review of decentralisation to be completed in 2011.

FÁS

There are currently 25 posts in Birr and all of these posts have been transferred from Head Office, Dublin.

FÁS will continue to seek to accommodate 15 additional posts for transfer to Birr, as the vacancies arise.