I propose to take Questions Nos. 117, 118, 120, 121 and 123 together.
The decentralisation implementation group, established last December by the Minister for Finance, recommended in its report of 31 March 2004 that each Department-agency participating in the decentralisation programme should prepare its own implementation plan for submission to the group by the end of May 2004. These initial implementation plans will require further development as additional information emerges in relation to the people, property and business issues identified in the implementation group's report.
The implementation plan of the Department of Foreign Affairs for the decentralisation of the development co-operation directorate, DCD, to Limerick is currently being finalised. It will address issues such as service and business continuity, efficiency and effectiveness and financial implications and will incorporate specific risk assessment and mitigation strategies.
The Department's implementation plan will be published after it has been made available to the implementation group, to the Department's audit committee and to staff interests. The Department's annual report will also take account of it. The plan will, of course, be available to the Comptroller and Auditor General. As the report will be published, the question of access under freedom of information would not seem to arise.
In relation to the issue of public financial procedures generally, I assure the Deputy that there is a high level of awareness in the Department of Foreign Affairs of the types of risks identified in paragraph 6.31 of the report of the working group on the accountability of Secretaries General and Accounting Officers, the Mullarkey report. In this regard, the Secretary General will be submitting the Department's implementation plan to me prior to its transmission to the implementation group.
