Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 320: To ask the Minister for Defence the number of applications from staff for transfer, relocation or exchange received in his Department and or other bodies or agencies under his aegis funded by his Department in each of the past three years to date in 2010; the number of approvals; the number of rejections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30768/10]

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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The 2003 Government decision on decentralisation gave rise to the establishment of the Central Applications Facility (CAF). The CAF was launched by the Public Appointments Service to manage applications from staff to apply centrally for decentralised locations of their choice. Since then all assignments into the Department and its agencies are made through the CAF. The locations relevant to the Department and its agencies are Galway, Roscrea and Newbridge.

The decentralisation of a number of branches of the Department to Galway took place in 1989. Since the CAF was established, a small number of staff have transferred in and out of the Galway office through the CAF. The decentralisation of the Civil Defence Board to Roscrea was completed in 2006 and about 25 staff were assigned through the CAF. The decentralisation of the Department's Dublin-based civil servants to Newbridge is proceeding as planned and is expected to take place later this year. The CAF for Newbridge has been oversubscribed with applications from staff wishing to relocate to Newbridge. It remains a live system and continues to attract applications. Over 160 staff have been assigned through the CAF to date to the Department's Dublin offices in advance of the move to Newbridge.

While the exact number of rejections of CAF applicants is not readily available, the numbers involved would be very small.