Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 July 2004
344 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs the major factors which led to the particular decentralised location chosen, and the criteria used for selection, in respect of each decentralisation move in his Department outlined in the budget 2004 statement. [21066/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is decentralising to two locations. The Irish language division and the placenames branch are scheduled to relocate to our existing decentralised offices in Na Forbacha, County Galway, while the remainder of the Department will relocate to Knock Airport, County Mayo.
A wide range of factors were taken into account and balanced against each other in the selection of the locations for decentralisation. In the case of Knock Airport, these factors included: the existence of good transport links by road, rail and air and the general infrastructural capacity in the area selected; the accessibility of much of rural Ireland from this location; the fact that Knock Airport is in a CLÁR area. In the case of na Forbacha the main factor was the fact that my Department already has functions relating to the Irish language, islands and Gaeltacht located there.
