In July 1979, the Government decided that 166 staff of my Department should be decentralised to Galway. While an amount of preliminary work was carried out in the period following that decision, including the identification of a site on lands owned by my Department at Renmore, Galway, the project did not proceed at that stage. In 1987, the Government re-affirmed the decision to decentralise part of the Department to Galway. On foot of that decision, construction of the offices at Renmore commenced and 176 staff transferred to the new building in June-July 1989. Of the 176 staff who relocated, 43 were already serving in my Department.
Details of the number of internal transfers, the amount of time necessary to train personnel and the increase in overtime and travel costs are not readily available. Given that the decentralisation to Galway occurred in 1989, some 15 years ago, the compilation of such information would require a disproportionate allocation of staff resources.