Vol. 525 No. 1
3 Mr. Noonan asked the Minister for Finance the reason the proposals he made to decentralise Government Departments and certain State agencies have not gone ahead; if he is still proceeding with the proposals; the criteria he will use in selecting locations for the decentralised offices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23670/00]
It was, unfortunately, not possible for the Government to take decisions in relation to a new programme of decentralisation by the end of the summer, as had originally been intended, because of the scale of the proposed programme including, for example, issues relating to the identification of those who would relocate as well as the centres to which they would relocate. It is, however, the Government's intention to proceed with the new programme. It is my intention that the Government will be in a position to take the necessary decisions by the end of this year.
In an effort to inform the Government's decision the views of the Civil Service management and the civil and public service unions have been invited and I am confident that these groups will bring to bear their considerable experience and contribute significantly to informing the decision-making process. The Government has established a Cabinet sub-committee on decentralisation, which, apart from myself, includes the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Minister for the Environment and Local Government. This sub-committee will take a number of factors into account as part of its deliberations, including the views of those groups whose views have been invited as well as the many submission and representations which have been received from or made on behalf of some 120 urban centres throughout every county.
The Minister will recall briefing the Select Committee on Finance and the Public Service on this matter before the summer recess and giving categorical assurances that the programme would have been announced by now. In that context, I do not believe the Minister has answered the question on the Order Paper in full. However, if decentralisation proceeds will it be done on the basis of objective criteria or on that of political favouritism? The Minister will recall that his colleague, the Minister for Defence, sent civil servants to his home town—
The Deputy should confine himself to questions.
Is the Minister aware that his colleague, the Minister for Defence, decentralised civil servants to his home town of Roscrea? Is he further aware that his colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in a parting shot when he left the Department of Health and Children, consigned members of a particular health agency to Tullamore and that his colleague, "Speedy Gonzalez", in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform sent "rusticated" people to Cahirciveen?
What type of people?
Will the decentralisation programme proceed on that basis or will the Minister lay down objective criteria which will be followed when further units of the Civil Service or public service are being decentralised?
While I did state that I hoped to have made this decision by the autumn, it was not possible to do so because my Department has been swamped by representations from over 120 locations throughout the country. There is unbelievable interest in this programme.
It is not possible to list the various criteria that will be taken into account. With regard to the decentralisation of staff of to Cahirciveen and Roscrea to which the Deputy referred, the numbers involved were quite small. The decision to decentralise these staff was not made in the context of the overall decentralisation programme.
I assure the Deputy that I will adopt the same criteria applied by the previous Government when the Environmental Protection Agency and a large section of the Department of Agriculture and Food were moved to Wexford, the constituency of the then Ministers for the Environment and Agriculture and Food, Deputies Howlin and Yates.
The Minister is getting rid of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development now.
Before those people were moved from Abbotstown to Kildare, various organisations, anticipating that they would be moving, wrote to me stating that they wanted to transfer to the site of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, a few miles from Abbotstown. Most people would agree that no favouritism was shown in that instance.
There is a different story about Abbotstown to which I could refer.
Deputies whose names do not appear on Priority Questions may not intervene.
There is unbelievable interest in the decentralisation programme. I do not want it to become a political football whereby it will be stated that Deputies want parts of the Civil Service to be transferred to their various constituencies. It is regarded by people in those constituencies as a very important matter and it will provide a lifeline to certain parts of the country.
Some reporters in the Dublin media do not appear to take account of the fact that decentralisation of a section of a major Government Department to certain areas throughout the country would be better for them than the arrival of a major industry. Various criteria will be taken into account but I do not want a situation to arise – it will not do so – where Deputy X or Minister Y wants a section of a Department to be decentralised to his or her constituency. That criterion will not be used.
Will the Minister publish the criteria that will govern his decision on the areas to which different agencies or sections of the Civil Service will be decentralised?
The Deputy will appreciate, particularly in light of his experience in Government, that I will not be doing that. If I wanted to stall this procedure forever – this would cause me the smallest amount of political angst – or at least until after the next general election, I would abandon the idea. If I really wanted to ensure that decentralisation did not proceed, I would appoint a very illustrious group drawn from the ranks of public servants, Secretaries General, etc.
Would the Minister appoint a high level group?
Yes. By the time a high level group considered the various criteria, the Deputy and I would be long departed from the House. Our children would probably have been and gone also before action was taken. I will not take that course of action. We will publish the names of the Departments and agencies to be relocated and we will have to live or die by that list.
When will the list be published?
I hope to publish it by the end of the year.
