Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 9 Mar 2000

Vol. 516 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Decentralisation Programme.

Mr. Finucane

I welcome the opportunity to present the case for decentralisation to Newcastle West. I urgently appeal to the Government to decentralise an office to Newcastle West, County Limerick. I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, that he is committed to decentralisation and hopes to decentralise at least 10,000 jobs to rural Ireland. I also agree with the recent statement by the Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, that she would not support decentralisation to major cities such as Limerick, Galway, Dublin and so on. It makes sense to decentralise offices of State and governmental agencies to rural provincial towns as many of our cities become congested. As part of the national plan, a key part of the spatial plan has to be decentralisation.

Up to now the decentralisation policy has been very much on an ad hoc basis and seemed to refer to the personal fiefdom of an individual Government Minister. Recent examples are the decisions of the Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, to relocate a Department to Cahirciveen; the Minister, Deputy Cowen, to relocate one to Tullamore; the Minister, Deputy Smith, to move the headquarters of Civil Defence to Roscrea and two sections of the Civil Service administration of the Army to Tipperary; and the Minister, Deputy Fahy, to relocate the Marine Institute to Galway. This decentralisation policy means it is the personal property of a Minister to decide where decentralisation takes place.

In recent times Newcastle West has seen industrial losses with Neodata Limited, Kostal and a large section of Giro Limited. The IDA and Shannon Development seem to have difficulty in finding replacement industries. It is my understanding that this will be compounded further as County Limerick does not have Objective One status and the emphasis of the Government's policy with regard to industry will focus on the Border, midland and western regions. Despite this, Newcastle West has seen great urban renewal. It has seen the population in the hinterland and the town grow to over 5,000. There has been a tremendous increase in private housing, mainly because of its location within a 25 mile radius of Limerick. Housing is cheaper in Newcastle West. It is also a popular location for people to live who are working outside the area. In recent times, the county council opened a new office costing in excess of £1 million, thus giving further recognition to Newcastle West as the county capital.

I want to compliment the local community council which launched a document last Monday on decentralisation. It is a commendable document and I am thankful for the support the county council and Shannon Development gave the community council in producing it. We hope in the near future to ensure the document is passed on to the appropriate personnel in the Department of Finance for the Minister's attention. In particular, I wish to respond to the public launch of the document which was attended by the four Oireachtas representatives, including Deputies Collins and Neville and Senator John Cregan, who supported the community council and the various interested parties in their attempts to have a project decentralised to Newcastle West. Therefore, across the political spectrum there is an appreciation that Newcastle West should benefit from a decentralisation project.

The town has had many remarkable achievements in the past, and in terms of its evolution, any Government Department decentralised to Newcastle West would be extremely happy. A building has become available, although it may not be available for too long. I hope the Government will make a decision in the very near future regarding locations for decentralisation and that Newcastle West will be included.

I do not anticipate that the Minister will announce this evening that Newcastle West will feature as a location. Rather, I anticipate a general response and I am putting down a clear marker that I will pursue the matter with great vigour to ensure Newcastle West is a location for decentralisation.

Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children (Ms Hanafin)

Tá áthas orm labhairt ar son an tAire Airgeadais ar an ábhar seo. Decentralisation has been the subject of much debate and interest, and I thank Deputy Finucane for giving me the opportunity to speak about it today.

As the House is aware the Minister for Finance has recently embarked on a process of consultation with his Government colleagues with a view to taking decisions on a significant programme of decentralisation by the summer. This new programme will be considerably more radical than the current programme which, by the time it has concluded, will involve the relocation of over 4,000 civil servants from Dublin to a large number of provincial locations.

The current process of consultation maintains the momentum of the Government's commitment to transferring the maximum number of public sector jobs from Dublin. This was first announced in the Minister for Finance's Budget Statement and will be achieved through the relocation of almost entire Government Departments, offices and other public bodies to provincial centres. It is intended that the forthcoming programme will for the first time involve non-commercial State-sponsored bodies. The Minister's budget announcement endorses the commitment set out in the reviewed Action Programme for the Millennium to a policy of balanced regional development and sets as a key priority the channelling of public sector jobs into provincial areas.

In developing a new programme, the Minister and the Government have in mind a number of objectives including the promotion of regional development, the reduction of congestion in Dublin, the establishment of a more even spread of public sector jobs around the country and the procurement of office accommodation at lower cost than in Dublin.

The impact of the current programme of decentralisation cannot be underestimated given that it involves almost 20 towns throughout the country. In Deputy Finucane's county over 500 staff have already relocated to the Office of the Revenue Commissioners in Limerick city. The process of decentralisation has had a considerable impact throughout the country with all regions benefiting from the Government's policy. Decentralisation over the past ten years or so has contributed handsomely to a situation where almost 50% of all civil servants are located outside of Dublin and there is a significantly improved geographical spread of Government services.

All of us are aware of the contribution made to local communities through the creation of jobs and the policy of decentralisation has enhanced many provincial communities through the addition of new jobs with the consequential positive economic boost. New jobs result in increased economic growth and better use of existing and often under used local infrastructure.

While all of us are conscious of the coverage the decentralisation proposals have received recently, particularly in the media, the Minister is anxious to caution against any expectation that a large-scale relocation of public servants to provincial locations is imminent. Members will appreciate that considerable planning will be required before this most ambitious programme is commenced. It will be necessary to identify appropriate blocks of work, select and train staff and source suitable accommodation. I say this not to demonstrate any lack of enthusiasm on the part of the Minister for Finance or the Government, but simply to emphasise that after decisions are taken it will be some time before staff arrive in their new locations.

The Minister specifically wants to address those public representatives, many of them in this House, who have been in touch with him recently about the subject of decentralisation and to acknowledge the very impressive cases which have been advanced for many potential locations. Furthermore, he is anxious to reassure those who have been making representations that these cases will be considered fully by him and the Government. In that context Deputy Finucane can be assured that the case now being made by him for the inclusion of Newcastle West in any new programme has been noted and will be considered fully in the context of the consultative process on which the Minister has embarked.