asked the Minister for the Public Service if he is aware of the grave disappointment felt in South Tipperary that this area was completely overlooked in the selection of centres in his decentralisation plan; and if he will now consider locating a centre there.
Ceisteanna—Questions . Oral Answers . - Decentralisation Plan .
35.
: A primary objective of this phase of the decentralisation programme was to make a contribution across the board to the development of the less well-off regions, and I feel that this is reflected fairly in the broad geographical spread. Every medium-sized town in Ireland was considered, and full and sympathetic consideration was given to the claims of the South Tipperary region. It would not be practicable to extend the present phase any further; as it is, the transfer of over 3,000 civil servants to the provincial centres named is clearly a sizeable and complex task. I regret therefore that it was just not possible within the limits of the present programme for the Government to satisfy the claims of many centres, including South Tipperary, to participate in the programme.