Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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Question 129: To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if his Department's offices in County Kerry will be retained; if current staffing levels will be maintained; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13111/12]

Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will appreciate that my Department, which was established in June 2011 bringing together a range of functions previously carried out by three different Government Departments, has staff based at a number of locations across the country. Accordingly, as my Department continues to review its operational structures, there may be some reallocation of work between locations.

However, within this context, I can assure the Deputy that, following completion of the review by Government of decentralisation projects in February of this year, my Department's offices in Killarney, Co. Kerry, will continue to operate as a major administrative centre and there are no proposals to reduce staffing levels from their current levels of 40 (whole-time equivalents). A small office maintained by my Department in Tralee to deal with Gaeltacht matters is to close, following the recent retirement of the senior officer at that location. Arrangements are being made to service any needs arising over the summer period in relation to the Gaeltacht from my Department's Killarney offices.