On the report on decentralisation, issues arose that this committee should investigate. I noticed that, in the case of the 21 early movers, in respect of only one of the projects has any building of any nature commenced. In some cases, sites have been acquired, while others are still under negotiation. We will, at best, have four sites completed by the end of 2006.
If one takes out of account Drogheda, Trim, Carlow and Portlaoise, which are within commuting distance of Dublin, staff assignments are fewer than 5% of the 21 early movers. It strikes me that the rate of progress is very slow even if the reduced ambitions for the programme are to be achieved. It is strange that Clonakility is listed as an early mover but we have no report on the property development in this case.
Significant slippage appears to be occurring in terms of the programme. It is fine to receive these reports but we ought to have reports that explain why slippage is occurring, what is being done to address it and the critical deadlines for each project. It is not particularly useful that reports are sent to us monthly if no one is available to answer questions or shed light on events. The purpose of this was that the committee could see that concrete progress was being made. This report provides evidence of a great deal of slippage. On the crucial matter of staff assignments and working out personnel issues, with only 5% of the staff assigned outside of the four aforementioned locations, it does not appear that many pieces are falling into place.