Vol. 380 No. 8
asked the Minister for Finance in view of County Roscommon's weak urban structure which is in turn hindering the attraction of major industrial employers to the four major towns in the county, if it will feature in the Government's decentralisation programme; and if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there is office accommodation available in County Roscommon.
31.
asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the suitability of Tuam, County Galway, as a location under the decentralisation of Government Departments programme; that there is a very modern infrastructure in place in the town; and if he has any plans to relocate a Department or section of a Department to Tuam in the near future.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 31 together. The Government's current decentralisation programme is based on the original list of centres selected in 1980 when decentralisation of Government Departments to provincial centres was first proposed. These centres are at Athlone, Ballina, Cavan, Dundalk, Ennis, Galway, Killarney, Letterkenny, Limerick, Nenagh, Sligo and Waterford.
The decision to confine the revived programme to the centres selected in 1980 was guided by the ready availability of sites in many of these locations, and the degree of preliminary planning which had been carried out regarding both the accommodation required and the staff to be transferred.
The decentralisation programme now under way is an ambitious one, and the Government's present priority is its implementation. The Government will however at a later date and in the light of the experience gained be in a position to consider representations from other centres including Roscommon and Tuam as further locations for decentralised offices.
What is the time scale for the completion of phase one and phase two of the decentralisation programme?
Phase one is under way and there are four offices being built. Three more have been advertised and contractors will be appointed. We hope in the next month to be in a position to advertise the other locations, and the intention is that work will begin on them before the end of the year. It is hoped that within a year or 18 months the whole system will be completed and that the decentralised offices in the 12 locations will have staff working there.
What the Minister is saying is that it is hoped before 1990 that the transfer of staff from Dublin to those 12 regional centres will take place. Can I take it from the reply that after 1990 it is his intention to examine the possibility of a decentralisation programme for other centres?
As I said, it will depend on the experience gained. We would hope to begin transferring people next year and we will then see how it is working. It need not necessarily follow that it would be the end of 1990 before the Government would give consideration to the next stage of decentralisation. It would all depend on the experience gained in the course of next year particularly.
Is it the Minister's intention to include Roscommon?
It is my intention, as I said in the reply, to consider representations which can, and I am sure will, include Roscommon and Tuam.
The Minister in his reply named a number of locations. I do not know if there were 12 in all in that list, but we have heard about phase one and phase two of the decentralisation programme. The actual Departments and the numbers involved have been outlined in phase one so far as I am aware but not precisely in the case of phase two. Can the Minister tell us when the specific Departments concerned in phase two will be named and when we might expect to see work on those new Departments in the particular centres taking place?
I hope there will be a lot of information regarding the end of phase two in the next few weeks It has not actually been decided which Departments will be going to Waterford but the intention is that 400 staff will be transferred.
