140 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Finance the nature of items being decentralised to any of the nominated gateways or hubs in view of the recent publication of the national spatial strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25064/02]
Decisions relating to a new programme of decentralisation cannot be taken before a number of important issues have been properly considered. As the Deputy is aware, An Agreed Programme for Government states that the progressive decentralisation of Government offices and agencies will be moved forward taking the national spatial strategy into account and, as I have stated previously, the decentralisation issue will be reviewed in the light of recent developments relating to the spatial strategy. However, in addition to this the Government must also consider other matters which will impact on the success of any new decentralisation programme. Accordingly, announcements regarding the specific details of a new decentralisation programme can be made only when this deliberative process has been completed.
