Vol. 363 No. 15
asked the Minister for Finance if he has any plans to reintroduce the programme for the decentralisation of sections of the Department of the Environment to Ballina, County Mayo, in view of the recent announcement to construct a new headquarters and offices for the Army and Department of Defence in Dublin.
14.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will reintroduce the decentralisation programme cancelled by the Government in view of the number of civil servants travelling from the city of Dublin to various parts of the country each week, as a boost to the construction industry and as a means of bringing central Government nearer to many more people by providing them with easier access to various Departments of Government.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 5 and 14 together. As I stated in my reply to a similar question on 19 November 1985 the proposed new headquarters for the Department of Defence to be located on a State-owned site at Parkgate, Phoenix Park, Dublin, did not form part of the decentralisation programme. There are no plans for the reintroduction of the decentralisation programme either in whole or in part.
In view of the fact that there have been requests from many members of the public service serving in Dublin for transfers to the regions, does the Minister not consider that there are very good reasons to relaunch the decentralisation programme? Does the Minister not see that the impact of this on the economy will be considerable in view of the heavy cost of office accommodation in this city which was highlighted by the Committee on Public Expenditure? Are there not good economic and social reasons for the Government reviewing the disastrous decision they took to cancel this enlightened programme?
This was called a decentralisation programme but what it was, essentially, was a recentralisation programme, simply removing certain decision making functions from Dublin to some other part of the country, where they became relatively more inaccessible to the people of Dublin. A genuine decentralisation of decision making into local areas is a different thing and would be more desirable, and a programme which we would try to implement when resources permit. I am not sure the Deputy is right about the expense of office space at the moment as there is a substantial amount of office space available at modest rates around Dublin. Perhaps when the programme was initiated office space was extremely expensive so the same rationale which applied to this question previously does not apply now.
I acknowledge the Minister's point about the availability of office space at modest rates due to the obviously depressed economy. Does the Minister not accept that in view of the purchase of sites under the original programme and the consultancy fees paid out under the original programme that it was a mistaken decision, for social and economic reasons, to cancel the programme? I would remind the Minister that it was not just a recentralisation programme but a decentralisation programme in every sense, so would the Minister reconsider the matter and give some hope to all concerned?
I would like to say I would reconsider it but I will not. The reason the decision was taken was because it was a very costly programme which we could not afford and still cannot afford. It could be desirable in the long run to provide office space in other parts of Ireland and if increased demand were to be experienced for available office space in Dublin I would look at it in future.
How many of the 13 sites specially purchased for decentralisation are sold?
That is a separate question.
It is not.
The question asked about general policy. If the Deputy wants to put down another question——
On a point of order, the question asked the Minister to reintroduce the decentralisation programme cancelled by the Government. An essential part of that relates to site acquisition.
The supplementary question referred to the sale of sites.
What happened to the sites is a separate question. We have nothing to hide and I will get the information to the Deputy.
The Minister does not know?
If I had the information, I would tell him.
