asked the Minister for Labour if he has made representations to CERT requesting that they would build their headquarters in Dublin city.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - CERT Headquarters.
18.
Prior to my appointment as Minister for Labour in March 1987, CERT had been seeking a suitable location in Dublin city for a new headquarters incorporating training facilities.
I indicated to CERT in November 1987 that I would not favour the existing Roebuck centre site in Dublin as the location for the new development and asked that CERT explore the following alternatives:
(i) locating the development in the inner city, and close to the Custom House Docks project,
(ii) siting the training facility in an AnCO training centre or the whole development in the grounds of one of their centres.
CERT subsequently decided on a site in Amiens Street, Dublin, which they have now purchased. Such a central location has obvious attractions from the point of view of bus and train routes as against a less central location like Roebuck.
I welcome CERT's decision and I am pressing CERT to commence construction as a matter of urgency. The new building will be funded through the sale of existing buildings in the ownership of CERT and through Exchequer and European Regional Fund grants.
Apart from the Minister's gratification at having it located near his own area, may I ask him, in view of the Government's stated policy on decentralisation, if he would agree that the opportunity was lost to have it located outside of Dublin and that this runs contrary to the Government's policy on decentralisation?
It is not all that long ago, Deputy, when you were mayor of the second city that you and I——
Lord Mayor.
I am sorry. It is not all that long ago when the Deputy and I jointly opened a major centre in his city which I believe is going very well.
We are thankful for small mercies.
Given the commitment to provide a headquarters for CERT, would the Minister agree that the threat of amalgamation under the FÁS umbrella which hung over CERT in the not-too-recent past has now finally been disposed of and that CERT will continue indefinitely as an independent agency?
That was the decision made at the time the legislation on FÁS was enacted. The answer is yes.
Would the Minister not agree that the obvious thing to do would be to amalgamate FÁS and CERT and not build up a separate empire, which seems to be the case? If we want to streamline training activities the obvious thing to do would be to bring them both under the one roof.
We were accused recently of breaking their empire in selling their beautiful offices in other parts of the city and moving them into the inner city.
In relation to the cost of the new building, may I take it that the hotel industry will be making a suitable contribution towards the cost of the building in view of the fact that they are still getting a fantastic service for virtually nothing?
We are now having an extension of this question.
As the Deputy is aware, the target set down by the industry has just about been reached now.
Just about.
The question of further funding is continually being looked at. They are getting a tremendous service——
For virtually nothing.
Cheap.