Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 28 Apr 1994

Vol. 140 No. 4

Adjournment Matter. - Decentralisation to County Leitrim.

Mr. Reynolds

I raise the question of decentralisation to Carrick-on-Shannon because unfortunately tomorrow 42 workers in the Wessel plant will lose their jobs and another industry will be gone from the county town of Leitrim. There have been job losses in GEA, a factory employing 20 people which closed 12 months ago. Jobs are under threat in the Wocco plant in Carrick-on-Shannon. Prior to Christmas Wocco management looked for 20 redundancies. Thankfully since then they received extra orders and the 20 people were kept on, but there is still a threat to those jobs.

The whole community of County Leitrim and Carrick-on-Shannon in particular was shocked by the news of the loss of the 42 jobs at the Wessel electronics component manufacturing plant. It was one of the few remaining industrial employers in County Leitrim and this loss underlines the need for Government to put into place a framework of policies which would allow for the development and creation of jobs in County Leitrim. The county in recent years suffered serious economic decline, not just through the loss of jobs but also because of the crippling level of emigration. One of the main reasons for high emigration figures is the lack of jobs and there has been no obvious commitment in the past seven years by this Government to invest in the county. This Government can reverse these appalling trends if it has the political will to do so.

The Government could immediately implement three decisions which would bring economic benefit to the people of Carrick-on-Shannon and County Leitrim. Carrick-on-Shannon could be included in the decentralisation programme. Unfortunately it is one of two county towns in all Ireland that has not been brought into the decentralisation programme. This programme has been of major benefit to towns like Sligo, Cavan, Ballina, Longford and Castlebar, which have accommodated different Departments. There has been an influx of people into each area and this in turn has led to the creation of extra service jobs in all those towns.

Carrick-on-Shannon is ideally located for the decentralisation programme. It is two hours from Dublin by road or rail. A new second level school is being built and it is one of the major towns on the Shannon. It has been ignored as far as decentralisation is concerned and we hope the Government will at this stage urgently consider a decentralisation programme for the town.

Carrick-on-Shannon is the only county town in the country not included in the urban renewal programme. Numerous buildings in the town need renovation and if an urban renewal scheme was put into place it would certainly help the cause of local interests and community groups who have tried to raise the finance to have these buildings repaired. The local MRD group has bought a local building called "The Shambles" as part of a great project to provide a community development area. If this was included in an urban renewal scheme, it would be of great benefit to the county town.

On Second Stage of the Local Government Bill, 1994, I mentioned that Leitrim County Council is the only county council that has no headquarters. If an urban renewal scheme was put in place for that it would make it much easier for the council to put forward a financial programme which would lend itself to making available finance to build a proper council headquarters.

I appeal to the Government to give urgent consideration to the implementation of a decentralisation programme for Carrick-on-Shannon. The population of County Leitrim has halved from 1926 to 1991 from 50,900 to 25,000. Carrick-on-Shannon has been crippled by employment losses and a decentralisation project which would bring people into the area would make a big difference to the county town.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Browne,

Wexford): I thank Senator Reynolds for raising this issue. As Senators will know, the original decentralisation programme launched in 1987 covers 12 locations countrywide — Athlone, Ballina, Cavan, Dundalk, Ennis, Galway, Killarney, Letterkenny, Limerick, Nenagh, Sligo and Waterford. The speed at which the programme has progressed has surpassed all expectations. Phases I and II of the original programme involving the provision of accommodation for approximately 2,200 public servants at ten locations — Cavan, Galway, Sligo, Ballina, Killarney, Letterkenny, Athlone, Ennis, Limerick and Nenagh — have been successfully completed.

Dundalk and Waterford represent the final phase of the original programme and the Minister for Finance has advised me that plans are already well under way to progress these projects as speedily as possible. Applications have been invited from developers interested in these two centres. The Government's confidence and continuing commitment to the overall concept of decentralisation was highlighted again in 1991 with the announcement that a further seven towns had been identified as decentralisation centres — Cork, Kilkenny, Longford, Wexford, Tullamore, Roscommon and Portlaoise. The announcement also confirmed that Dundalk and Waterford from the original programme would be completed as planned by the Government.

I am delighted with the progress on the extended programme which, incidentally, involves the transfer of a further 1,500 civil servants to the provinces. In the cases of Cork and Longford buildings have been fully completed and occupied by nearly 600 Civil Service staff who have been transferred from the Central Statistics Office in the case of Cork and the social welfare office in the case of Longford. With regard to Tullamore construction of the new office is well under way, while the contract in respect in Portlaoise will be signed shortly. All the other centres — Kilkenny, Wexford and Roscommon — are at an advanced stage of implementation and planning will be fully completed within two years.

As stated by the Minister for Finance, Deputy B. Ahern, on a number of occasions, decentralisation is a major policy objective of the Government which is based on the principles of devolving decision making to local areas and the need for a more widespread location of public services and job opportunities.

Many of the provincial towns which have been chosen as decentralisation centres have suffered from emigration and internal migration. The influx of public servants, many of them with spouses and children, has helped to rejuvenate the towns thus adding to the social and economic viability of those areas. Many public servants were involuntary migrants and have taken the opportunity to return to their roots.

When the programme is completed, over 3,500 public service jobs will have been transferred from the Dublin area to the provinces — a significant achievement by any standards. It is unfortunate, however, that many of the communities and towns which applied to be considered as a location for decentralisation, including Carrick-on-Shannon, have had to be disappointed to date. There were in excess of 50 such applications which is understandable, when one considers the benefits of the programme, and it is a difficult choice for the Government to make the final selection.

The Government has no plans to expand the programme further, but is determined to ensure its successful implementation which will secure economic benefits to the various local communities. The Minister for Finance has indicated to me that it is his intention to review the programme as to its effectiveness, and if the Government decides on a further expansion of the programme he will ensure that Carrick-on-Shannon will be included in the list of towns for consideration.

The Seanad adjourned at 6.55 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Friday, 29 April 1994.