I propose to take Questions Nos. 954, 955 and 957 together.
The Government's decentralisation programme provides for the relocation of my Department in its entirety to Cavan by the end of 2010. This involves the relocation of 159 administrative posts at Executive Officer or above, 72 administrative posts at Staff Officer or below and 72 professional and technical posts. To date some 53 staff members from the Corporate Services area of my Department have relocated to Cavan. Of these, 30 transferred from Dublin based civil service posts, 5 transferred from non-Dublin based civil service posts and 1 was recruited locally in Cavan. The remaining staff worked in my Department prior to their relocation to Cavan. Plans are in place to transfer the Natural Resources area of my Department to Cavan by the end of 2009. The process of populating this area with Cavan bound staff is underway.
My Department has plans and strategies in place to ensure that the risks associated with decentralisation are managed. These include adequate overlap periods for staff training purposes and a knowledge management system, which aims to minimise the loss of corporate knowledge associated with high levels of staff turnover. Based on our experience of decentralisation to date, I am satisfied that the staff transfers to Cavan have been undertaken without any adverse effect on my Department's business and programme delivery.