Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 June 2004
61 Dr. Upton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if her Department has yet carried out a risk assessment of the decentralisation plans announced on budget day 2004, in so far as they may impact, either directly or indirectly on her Department, or on any agency or body operating under the aegis of her Department; when she expects to receive the risk assessment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18093/04]
View answerOfficials of my Department have recently finalised a comprehensive implementation plan on the decentralisation of those sections or offices of the Department which have been approved by me for relocation to Carlow. That initial plan, along with plans from all other decentralising Departments, has now been submitted to the central implementation group. The document clearly demonstrates that my Department prioritised risk minimisation when taking decisions regarding the decentralisation of the selected areas of the Department. In addition, many of the areas of the Department identified for relocation have recently undergone business process re-engineering exercises, which will now be revisited in the context of decentralisation. Furthermore, the central applications facility will provide additional information which will be crucial to the further development of risk assessment and risk mitigation strategies.
Following the completion of my Department's implementation plan, an overall risk assessment framework will now be carried out which will assess direct and indirect risks, threats to, and opportunities for the synergies between the Department and its agencies during and post decentralisation. At this stage it is not possible to provide an exact time frame for the completion of the assessment.
The four agencies operating under the aegis of my Department which have also been identified for decentralisation — FÁS, the National Standards Authority of Ireland, the Health and Safety Authority and Enterprise Ireland — have finalised their initial implementation plans, and some of the agencies have indicated that they will undertake separate risk assessments in their own organisations to identify potential issues with regard to their own internal and external interfaces.
