Decentralisation Programme.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 May 2004

Thursday, 6 May 2004

Questions (79, 80)

Gay Mitchell

Question:

69 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Finance if a report on leases of public service units proposed for removal from Dublin was considered as part of the decision on decentralisation. [12865/04]

Written answers

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

At present the State rents 200,000 sq. m. of office space in the Dublin area at a cost of €70 million per annum. It also uses 230,000 sq. m. of State owned office accommodation in Dublin.

Under the decentralisation programme in excess of 200,000 sq. m. of office accommodation will be required in the regions for staff leaving Dublin. As a result an equivalent amount of space will no longer be required in the Dublin area.

The issues surrounding the disposal of surplus Dublin space, both owned and leased, are being addressed. The following considerations will be taken into account: the specific circumstances associated with each building including location, quality and design, tenure, office area and whether its leasehold or freehold; the relocation of Departments or offices within the Dublin portfolio with a view to the optimum consolidation of Dublin office space; and the timing of property disposals. The market value of a building can be greatly affected by prevailing market conditions, including a significant influx of properties to the market

Question No. 70 answered with QuestionNo. 67.

Question No. 71 answered with QuestionNo. 47.

Question No. 72 answered with QuestionNo. 37.

Dan Boyle

Question:

73 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Finance the number of Government offices that have already been relocated outside of Dublin. [12954/04]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

The following tabular statement gives details of Civil Service offices relocated during previous phases of the Government's decentralisation programme. It excludes local offices of various State agencies that exist to serve a local customer base in a particular county or region.

List of Previously Decentralised Offices.

Department	Department-Agency	Centre
Agriculture and Food	Department	Cavan
	Department	Castlebar
	Department	Wexford
	Department	Portlaoise
Communications, Marine and Natural Resources	Department	Castlebar
	Department	Galway
Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs	Department	Furbo
Defence	Department	Galway
Education and Science	Department	Athlone
	Department	Tullamore
Enterprise, Trade and Employment	Patents Office	Kilkenny
Environment, Heritage and Local Government	Department	Ballina
	Department	Shannon
		Wexford
Finance	Office of Public Works	Kilkenny
	Revenue Commissioners	Ennis
	Revenue Commissioners	Limerick
	Revenue Commissioners	Nenagh
	Revenue Commissioners	Dundalk
	Revenue Commissioners	Rosslare
Foreign Affairs	Department	Cork city
Health and Children	General Registration Office	Roscommon
		Clane, Kildare
		Naas
		Cork
		Cork
Justice	Department Land Registry	Killarney
	Legal Aid Board	Waterford
		Cahirciveen
Social and Family Affairs	Department	Letterkenny
	Department	Longford
	Department	Sligo
Taoiseach	Central Statistics Office	Cork city
Transport	Driver Licensing & Testing	Ballina