Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 July 2004
271 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Transport the major factors which led to the particular decentralised location chosen, and the criteria used for selection in respect of each decentralisation move in his Department outlined in the 2204 Budget Statement. [21063/04]
View answerAccording to the Minister for Finance's Budget Statement in December 2003 a wide range of factors were taken into account and balanced in selecting the new decentralised locations. These factors included the need to achieve a fit with the national spatial strategy, in terms of the gateways, hubs and their respective catchments; the location of existing decentralised offices; the desirability of clustering a Department's decentralised units within a region; the importance of respecting the scale and character of locations in terms of their capacity to absorb the number of new jobs involved; the existence of good transport links by road, rail and air; and the general infrastructural capacity in the areas selected.
