Jim O'Keeffe
Question:80 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Finance his views on the case for the decentralisation of a Government office to Bandon; and when he now expects decisions to be made in this regard. [29983/03]
Written Answers. - Decentralisation Programme.
Since the announcement in budget 2000 to proceed with a new, more radical, programme of decentralisation my Department has received submissions, representations and inquiries on behalf of more than 130 centres throughout the country seeking to be included in the new programme. I refer the Deputy to the summary of 2004 budget measures, page B.25, which sets out the wide range of factors which have been taken into account in selecting Departments-agencies for decentralisation and locations for the new decentralised offices.
Arising from the above, the Government has decided to locate 920 staff to six locations in Cork. No decisions have been made regarding the locations of 1,335 jobs out of the total of 10,300 included in the programme, that is, 835 IT jobs and 500 health sector jobs. The final total could be closer to 12,000 jobs and I intend to examine options in this regard once the new programme is well under way.