Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 30 Jan 1992

Vol. 415 No. 2

Written Answers. - Employment Exchanges.

Brendan Howlin

Ceist:

22 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he has satisfied himself with the physical conditions of all employment exchanges; if he will give the location of any exchanges which he considers inadequate; the proposals he has to remedy the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Social Welfare (Mr. Daly)

Accommodation needs are influenced by a number of factors including the demands on services in a particular area and developing trends in service provision. I am fully committed to a policy which ensures that my Department's local offices, in keeping with demands on their services, offer a high standard of accommodation for the staff and members of the public alike.

Substantial progress has been made in recent years in improving the general standard of my Department's offices. This has been done as part of an ongoing development programme which is being advanced as quickly as technical and financial resources will allow. Expenditure on the programme has amounted to £11 million over the past four years.

Some offices are catering for a volume of business considerably in excess of that for which they were originally designed. The following offices have been identified as requiring attention because of their size or because they cannot be adapted to provide the facilities and levels of service which are now standard in newer offices: Tallaght, Navan Road, Werburgh St. and Victoria St. in Dublin; Kilkenny, Longford, Dundalk, Wexford, Bray, Mullingar, Carlow, Thurles and Athlone.

Planning for new offices for Tallaght and Navan Road is in progress and construction work is due to start later this year. A site has been secured to facilitate replacement of the office at Victoria Street and development will commence as soon as resources are available. The offices in Kilkenny, Wexford, Dundalk and Longford are to be replaced as part of the decentralisation projects planned for these towns. Work on an extension to the Mullingar office has already commenced and planning for similar work at Carlow is in progress. In relation to Werburgh St, Dublin, Bray, Thurles and Athlone, a number of options are being explored to deal with problems at these offices.