Decentralisation Programme.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 October 2006

Tuesday, 24 October 2006

Questions (628)

Paul Kehoe

Question:

703 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will report on the decentralisation plans in his Department; when his Department will be fully decentralised to County Wexford; the way this date compares with his original date for decentralising; if his Department has rented office space in County Wexford to accommodate staff; the percentage of staff who have agreed to be decentralised; the number of staff who moved to other Departments in the past two years; the number of staff who plan to move to other Departments in the next number of months; and if so, what Department. [34576/06]

Written answers

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (Mr. Roche)

I refer to the reply to Question No. 573 of 17 October 2006. As outlined in the most recent progress report (September 2006) of the Decentralisation Implementation Group, the indicative timescale for completion of my Department's headquarters in Wexford is the third quarter of 2008 while that for New Ross is the last quarter of 2009; the indicative dates in June 2005 for these locations were the third quarter of 2007 and early 2009 respectively.

At this stage a total of 157 staff have confirmed their availability to decentralise with the Department to both locations, representing 40% of the posts to transfer to these locations. 78 of these staff are now working in the Department and the process of arranging for the transfer of the other staff to the Department is continuing. The process of staff moving from my Department to other Departments, in accordance with the arrangements established under the decentralisation programme for such moves, is ongoing; to date 30 staff have moved under these arrangements.