Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 1 Apr 1992

Vol. 418 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - Finance and Foreign Affairs Matters.

Mr. McGinley

I thank you, Sir, for allowing me to raise an important matter and I thank the Minister of State for being present in this House.

The completion of the internal market by 1 January 1993 will have serious implications for the economy of County Donegal. Of the 91 Customs and Excise staff currently employed throughout the county, 65 will be surplus to requirement — in other words simply out of a job. The loss of these workers and their families to County Donegal is estimated to be of the order of £1 million annually. The cost in social terms is incalculable. A county already suffering the highest unemployment rate per capita can ill afford to sacrifice a further 65 jobs. The vast majority of those affected have family responsibilities; homes to maintain, mortgages to pay and children to educate. Their dependants number about 200 and their contribution to the economy of the county is crucial at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract industry and create employment in one of our most peripheral counties. There is massive uncertainty as to what the future holds for these families. They are being kept in the dark in a most unfair way not knowing what type of employment, if any, will be available from 1 January next.

The Minister should recognise that after Dundalk, County Donegal will be the next major blackspot as a result of the internal market arrangement. I suggest to the Minister of State that the next major block of work identified should be transferred to County Donegal. The problem could be solved by the placing of the administration block for motor vehicle excise duty in the county from January 1993. I urge the Minister to seriously consider this option.

This is a serious problem for the families involved and the county in general. I urge the Minister to address it immediately and relieve the tensions and anxiety of all those involved. They should be spared from further uncertainty and told what the future holds for them.

Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Mr. N. Treacy)

I am informed by the Revenue Commissioners that, based on current decisions and assumptions, they estimate that about 604 jobs will be lost in Customs and Excise following the completion of the internal market on 1 January 1993. The impact of the internal market changes falls unevenly on Customs and Excise locations. Understandably areas with a heavy customs preventive work element will suffer most. The Revenue Commissioners recognise that the Donegal area is in this category.

The Commissioners are endeavouring, with the co-operation of all the Civil Service unions, to find work for all the surplus staff in their present locations. As the Minister for Finance, Deputy Ahern, said in his budget speech, it is essential that the surplus Customs and Excise staff are used to the maximum in the continued drive for better collection and enforcement of taxes and detection of evasion and avoidance. Full co-operation and flexibility will be required from the staff unions to achieve this objective.

The commissioners have put forward specific proposals for the absorption of surplus staff within Revenue, through the expansion of some existing functions of the Customs and Excise service, especially the strengthening of the common external frontier, increased control of drugs and other illicit traffic, improved Common Agricultural Policy control and post importation audit work. Included in these proposals is the involvement of Customs and Excise staff in new areas of work which will arise post-1992 and which have the potential to provide substantial employment opportunities. One such area involves the collection of Community Intrastat statistics and the VAT information exchange system. The Government have already decided to give Revenue responsibility for this new work which will generate over 100 jobs. The commissioners have also made proposals to Government for a major role for Revenue in the administration of a new motor vehicle taxation and the Government's decision on this matter will be made shortly.

Pending the Government decision on motor vehicle taxation and the completion of the necessary negotiations with the unions concerned, the commissioners have not yet decided where to locate the administrative centres for the new work areas in question. I can, however, assure both the House and the Deputy that the Donegal area, being one of the areas which has a particularly severe surplus staff problem, will be high on the list of priority locations for new work or any other option which will alleviate the problem.

The Revenue Commissioners have put a lot of effort into designing a strategy, the ultimate aim of which is to ensure that to the greatest extent possible a career is provided for all Customs and Excise staff in or close to their present locations. In keeping the human and domestic factors to the forefront we would hope that through co-operative flexibility on all sides this aim can be achieved.

Mr. Allen

I should like to place on record that I welcome unreservedly the announcement of the Minister and the Government that they will decentralise the Central Statistics Office to Cork and that Cork will become a beneficiary of the decentralisation programme at long last. In a response I received from the Minister on 3 March he said tenders had been received by the Commissioners of the Office of Public Works on 28 February for provision of accommodation for the CSO, that those tenders were being examined and that a decision on the site to be used would have to await the outcome of that examination. The Minister in his reply ruled out the site at Polefield, Blackpool, County Cork, in my constituency and said it was no longer one of the sites being considered.

Criticism has been levelled at some public representatives in the Cork area when they raised the whole issue of the optimum site. Different people have different opinions, but local and national democracy allows people to give their views and that right should never be denied them. Local people have the best opinion of what is best for their city.

Perhaps the Minister would clarify a few points. Can he clarify once and for all why the Polefield, Blackpool site was deemed unsuitable? It is in an area of high unemployment. It would be adjacent to a major road development. Can he clear up the mystery of why the Polefield site has been ruled out? Can he give us an idea as to when the considerations of the Office of Public Works will be finalised and when can we expect an announcement on the site? Even at this stage I appeal to the Minister to reconsider the Polefield site in Blackpool because I believe it is a good site and that it deserves greater consideration than it has been given.

Mr. N. Treacy

I have listened with interest to what Deputy Allen has said and I am glad to have an opportunity of speaking to the House about the proposed decentralisation of the Central Statistics Office to Cork city. There is no uncertainty whatever about this proposal. The motion before me has no reference whatever to the specific request made by Deputy Allen pertaining to the Polefield site. It asks about the ongoing uncertainty regarding the location of the Central Statistics Office at Cork. I want to clarify there is no doubt about that. The previous Fianna Fáil Government took a decision in 1960 to proceed with a decenralisation programme. We picked specific locations in the country. We went out of office in 1982 and Deputy Allen's party in Government decided to cancel the programme and dispose of the sites we had acquired.

We have decided, in the interests of making a contribution to the local economy in Cork and creating equality of opportunity for public services in that area, that Cork should be a beneficiary of the decentralisation programme. To do that we had to have consultation with the local authority during which it was made clear to us that the wish of the local authority in Cork, due to the representations made to them about other proposals for the Polefield site, was that the Polefield site should not be considered for the decentralisation programme. Taking on board the recommendations we got, we proceeded to advertise for tenders for the decentralisation programme in Cork and we received a total of eight for this project. The assessment of these tenders will be completed shortly and the final decision will be made as quickly as possible. In our final decision we will take into account the location, the contribution it can make to the development of the city and the design and suitability of the building for relocating a large number of public service staff. In the interests of the taxpayer we will take into account the value for money which the investment will give, first, in the interests of providing a building and, second in ensuring the services are up to the standard which the people of Cork would desire. Deputy Allen can be in no doubt we will proceed and that we will make a decision. I hope he and all the people of Cork, and particularly the public representatives will be satisfied that no matter where the building is located it will be in the interests of the people both of the city and county of Cork.

Mr. Deenihan

The penal church in Cahirciveen is located among a series of houses on the north side of Market Cross between Cahirciveen's main street and the church and graveyard. The building was noted in Smith's Ancient and Present State of Kerry published in 1756. It had begun to function as a Catholic Church by 1822, when Thomas Reid, an English travel writer, described how it could only contain one-third of its usual congregation. By this time it was approaching the end of its period of use as a church since a larger one was being built near the site of the present Daniel O'Connell memorial church.

The main point of interest concerning this building is that it was used as a Catholic church during the final half century of Ireland's infamous penal laws. It facilitated the conversion of the Cahirciveen building to an ecclesiastical function and was under the patronage and protection of the local Catholic landlord family of the O'Connell's. While there is no known record to substantiate the belief that Daniel O'Connell was baptised in this building, local historians are adamant that he was baptised there. Indeed, as it was the only church in the locality it is almost certain he was baptised there. In order to provide easy access to the proposed car park at Cahirciveen it has been proposed that this building should be demolished. In my opinion, such a course of action would be both unfortunate and unnecessary, given the historical significance and importance of the building. The church has two gothic windows and there were very few such penal churches in Kerry.

In a letter dated 3 September 1990 to Kerry County Council the national monuments section of the Office of Public Works recommended that this structure should be retained and conserved and, if better access to the car park is needed, that the graveyard wall should be taken down and set back. I suggest that no portion of this building should be removed or altered and that it should be retained and conserved both in the national and local interest. The building should be treated with the proper respect that it is due and be preserved for the people of Cahirciveen as an important part of their heritage.

Mr. N. Treacy

The Commissioners of Public Works will give consideration to the question of entering the Penal Church in Cahirciveen in the Register of Historic Monuments, as provided for under the National Monuments Acts, 1930 to 1987. This building is certainly of local historic interest in so far as the Catholic Emancipation Movement is concerned. It is also reputed to be the baptismal place of the great Daniel O'Connell.

As Deputy Deenihan, has said Kerry County Council are in the process of acquiring the building in connection with an off-street car parking development which they have planned. The Commissioners of Public Works have written to Kerry County Council recommending that the Penal Church be preserved. When the county council's response is to hand the matter will be considered further by the Commissioners. I trust that this is to the satisfaction of both Deputy Deenihan and the people of County Kerry.

The Dáil adjourned at 11.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 2 April 1992.